Hapoel Tel Aviv didn't need a star to beat Besiktas—it had five. Elijah Bryant and Vasilije Micic scored 16 points each, while Amir Coffey, Zach LeDay, and Antonio Blakeney added 15. With that kind of balanced scoring, Dimitris Itoudis' team cruised to a 100-82 victory in Sofia, where they play home games for security reasons. It's their third win in five games, following a loss to Valencia Basket.
The first half was competitive. Hapoel won the first quarter 22-18 and the second quarter ended tied at 21, with the score 43-39 at halftime. Besiktas, which led by four early in the game, was ahead for less than three minutes the entire contest.
Read also:
- Valencia Basket stays unbeaten against Hapoel and leads with 4-0 record in EuroLeague (93-82)
- Wilbekin punishes Kosner Baskonia without three-pointers (84-92)
- EuroLeague Matchday 4 recap: Valencia keeps pace with Panathinaikos
Twelve straight points after halftime
The game was decided in the third quarter. Hapoel strung together a 12-0 run, the best of the night, and won the period 32-16 to enter the fourth quarter leading 75-55. The lead reached 21 points. Three-point shooting was key: the Israelis finished 11 of 20 from three, while Besiktas went 6 of 17. Blakeney made three of his five attempts.
Besiktas won the fourth quarter 25-27, but never got closer than 12 points to apply real pressure. Ante Zizic was the Turks' best player with 17 points and 9 rebounds, five on the offensive glass. Jaylen Nowell, meanwhile, struggled with 2 of 10 shooting and fouled out. Micic also finished with five fouls, with just five seconds remaining.