Hapoel Tel Aviv suffered a painful defeat in the Israeli Premier League, where they were defeated by Hapoel Galil Elyon 90-89 in one of the biggest surprises of the season.
Before playing this game, the visitors threatened not to return to Israel, fearing the continuation of the conflict in the region, with the clear intention to prepare as well as possible for the upcoming quarterfinal playoff series in the EuroLeague against Real Madrid. However, the director of the Israeli Premier League announced that the game would be moved to the Israeli city of Hadera, much to the displeasure of the hosts.
In the end, the game went according to plan as the Israeli league resumed after a two-month hiatus, and the underdogs took a big win thanks to a brilliant third quarter where they scored 33 points. The team of Dimitris Itoudis, second in the table with a 17-3 record, lost to their last-placed opponents who came to this game with only eight players. It’s also worth noting that the Greek coach had his own problems with the squad, with Elijah Bryant, Chris Jones, Kessler Edwards, Dan Oturu and Colin Malcolm all remaining in Bulgaria.
Levi Randolph was a key factor in helping Hapoel Tel Aviv end the first half with a 38-35 lead. Even in the last quarter, after a great turnaround by the hosts, Hapoel Tel Aviv managed to take the lead, mostly thanks to Jonathan Motley‘s double-double performance and Antonio Blakeney‘s shooting, as he hit 5 out of 9 threes.
However, due to the opponent’s shorter rotation, Hapoel Galil Elyon managed to get back into the match in the third quarter and tie the game at 68-68 before the start of the fourth through the points of Justin James, who scored 22 points, and Shahar Amir, who scored 20.
The EuroLeague representative led 89-84 at one point before the end of the game, but several bad decisions by Vasilije Micic and Randolph allowed James to close the gap through the free throw line and Amir managed to steal the ball on the last possession and run the length of the court to lay the ball in the basket with 2.9 seconds left.
Randolph tried the same on the other end but was blocked by Cyril Langewein and the home team improved their league record to 4-15. Antonio Blakeney and Jonathan Motley both scored 16 points, while Tai Odiase and Levi Randolph each added 11. Hapoel Tel Aviv will continue their Israeli league duties as they play against Kiryat Ata tomorrow, with their EuroLeague playoff series opener against Real Madrid taking place in Spain next Wednesday.
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