Both Israeli teams in the EuroCup competition took huge steps to position themselves in the best possible manner for the upcoming playoffs.
Convincing victories by Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem on the penultimate game day have set them up for big regular season finales next week that Israeli basketball aficionados will be salivating over, as both teams look to win the competition and secure an automatic spot in next season’s EuroLeague.
Hapoel Tel Aviv overwhelmed Trefl Sopot 91-72 as Johnathan Motley paced the Reds to the “home” win in Samokov, Bulgaria. Motley and Patrick Beverley opened the scoring for Hapoel Tel Aviv, while Marcus Foster and Antonio Blakeney piled on the points in the second quarter.
Geoffrey Groselle and Nahiem Alleyne countered, but the Reds took a 49-32 advantage into halftime.
Ish Wainright began to fill the basket while Motley continued to do the same. Darious Moten and Nick Johnson tried to cut the gap, but Yam Madar, Beverley, and Motley polished off the win.
Next week, the Reds will visit Ulm and their Israeli star Ben Saraf as they look to finish the regular season in second place overall in Division A.
Motley scored 22 points, Madar added 13, Blakeney put in 12, while Foster and Beverley chipped in with 11 points each in the win.
Groselle and Moten each scored 17 points, and Johnson added 16 points in the loss.
Congratulating the players
“I have to congratulate our players for the win,” Hapoel Coach Dimitrios Itoudis began.
“It was not our best game – we didn’t play well offensively, we didn’t move the ball well, and we were stuck in isolation at times. But we hustled and won the 50/50 balls, and that says a lot about the team. We did score 91 points and led from beginning to end, so that says something positive about us.”
“We have one more game left against a good opponent in Ulm, and we both need the game. But we are looking at it one game at a time; we are trying to find out what our identity is.
The bench players took over, and that was important. We have a crucial game coming up.”
“I believe that we could have controlled things better,” Trefl coach Zan Tabak said. “We gave up too many easy baskets from loose balls – we could have done better. We are going to try and win despite what our results are.”
Motley, the game’s MVP, spoke about the win.
“I’m trying to do what I can to help the team win. Today, it was rebounding, as my shooting wasn’t as good as I would have liked it to be.
I want to keep going as we need the win while the EuroCup is very close.
We are looking forward to the playoffs, but we still have Ulm left next week.”
Hapoel Jerusalem pounded Bourg 94-67 to clinch a spot in the EuroCup playoffs and will have a chance to finish in second place in Division B with a win in the final regular season game next week against Turk Telekom.
Justin Harper was red-hot out of the gate for Hapoel Jerusalem, while Justin Smith also added points as Maksim Salash tried to keep his team in the game. However, the Reds grabbed a 45-33 lead at halftime.
Harper continued to fill the basket in the third quarter, Brandon Jefferson tried to keep Bourg in the game, but more points from Smith and Khadeen Carrington sealed the deal.
Harper scored 31 points, Carrington added 15, and Smith put in 14 points in the win. Salash scored 16 points, and Jefferson had 10 for Bourg in the loss.
“I expected it would be a tight game, but I am happy it ended like this,” Jerusalem head coach Yonatan Alon said following the game.
“We played hard for 40 minutes with good defense and good offense. Now I will just think about the next game, and then we will see where we finish in the standings.”
Game MVP Harper spoke about the victory.
“This was a good team win. We knew we could solidify ourselves in the playoffs with a win, and now we control our own destiny to try and get the best possible place in the postseason. Now we have to get a win next week. There are ups and downs throughout the season. The last two games were losses, but we played well defensively and as a team in this game, made our shots, and finished the game with a win.”
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
