3 hours ago
4
ARTICLE AD BOX
Hapoel Tel Aviv clinched a hard-fought 97-90 victory over Ulm, securing a direct berth in the EuroCup quarterfinals and keeping their championship hopes alive.
By JOSHUA HALICKMAN FEBRUARY 6, 2025 22:40
TOMER GINAT (right) and Hapoel Tel Aviv were too strong for Ulm in a 97-90 victory that secured a spot in the EuroCup quarterfinals without having to play in the round-of-16.
(photo credit: Hapoel Tel Aviv/Courtesy)
Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Ulm 97-90 to secure second place overall in EuroCup Division A, which hands the Reds a direct ticket to the competition’s quarterfinals.
Johnathan Motley was a powerful force throughout for Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad, while Marcus Foster also found crucial points as Israeli Ben Saraf, Justinian Jessup, and Alfonso Plummer kept Ty Harrelson’s Ulm team in front by double digits in the fourth quarter.
But Yam Madar spurred a late-game comeback and scored the key baskets down the stretch for Tel Aviv to take the hard-earned victory.
In the one-game elimination quarterfinals slated for March, Hapoel Tel Aviv will host the winner of the Turk Telekom and Buducnost matchup, which will take place in the round of 16. Should the Reds advance to the best-of-three semifinals, they will tip off against one of Valencia, Wolves, and Cluj. However, well before the EuroCup playoffs, Itoudis and crew will play in the State Cup semifinals derby versus Maccabi Tel Aviv this coming Monday night in Jerusalem.
Motley scored 24 points, while Foster and Madar each added 18 points in the win. Jessup scored 18 points, Saraf put in 17 points, and Plummer scored 16 points in the loss.
“The mathematics wasn’t important here, but what mattered was the heart and belief, and we talked about that at halftime,” Itoudis said. “We were always a step back on their great shooters that they have. Ben Saraf was good, and we allowed him to score from the left and many other details, but we knew we had to play better with better spacing, and we defended great. We played a great team that had a target as well.”
The game MVP, Motley, spoke about the win.
“This was a very tough game against a hard team who were fast, denied the ball, and played well on the boards. Ulm was a tough team with a good coach, but we did what we needed to at the end. We have a lot of experience – I played in the Euroleague, and we have a great Euroleague coach. We were down 6-7 points, but we were able to come back to take the win.”
In Bulgaria, Hapoel Jerusalem eased past Turk Telekom 76-66 as the Reds jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, clinching second place in EuroCup Division B, good for an automatic place in the quarterfinals.
Jared Harper, Khadeen Carrington, and Yovel Zoosman got the game rolling for Hapoel Jerusalem with points aplenty, while Anthony Brown tried to keep Turk close. But the Reds headed into halftime with a 39-27 lead. Chris Johnson began to score at will as Harper and Carrington did the same to keep the visitors, led by Brown and Olivier Hanlan, at bay and chalk up the victory.
Stay updated with the latest news!
Subscribe to The Jerusalem Post Newsletter
In the one-game elimination quarterfinals slated for March, Hapoel Jerusalem will host the winner of the Gran Canaria and Venezia matchup, which will take place in the round-of-16. Should the Reds advance to the best-of-three semifinals, they will tip off against one of Ljubljana, Besiktas, and Bahcesehir. However, well before the EuroCup playoffs, Alon’s squad will play in the State Cup semifinals against Bnei Herzliya this coming Sunday night in Jerusalem.
Harper scored 21 points, Carrington added 17 points, Johnson scored 13 points, and Zoosman chipped in with 12 points in the win. Brown scored 19 points, and Hanlan scored 13 points in the loss.
“The guys came in very focused,” Alon began. “They knew exactly what they needed to do, and they had the character to make sure that they executed here in this game. Defensively, we were very consistent and played very good defense the whole game. Offensively, we had some ups and downs, and I’m happy about the win. To finish in second place in the EuroCup allows us to continue striving for our goals thanks to the staff and players. This is really special due to the challenges that we have had, and we should be proud.”
MVP Harper shares his thoughts
Harper, the game’s MVP, spoke about the victory as well as his own play this season.
“The identity of our team has to start on defense, and we had a great game on defense, and we also had some great offensive plays. But if we defend like that, then we can win any game.
“It’s never about an individual award. I believe in myself, and we are a team that allows its players to be who they are. We are happy that we are in second place in the division and that we can make a push to go all the way. We can play with anybody, and we battled a lot of adversity this season. I think we are built for the end of the year.”
Over in Spain, Maccabi Tel Aviv was crushed by Barcelona 100-71 in Euroleague play as Kevin Punter scored at will over the course of the second half to break the game open and take the win.
The yellow-and-blue kept the game close over the first half as Rokas Jokubaitis, Jasiel Rivero, and Roman Sorkin paced Oded Katash’s squad. But Jabari Parker hit his shots from deep, and Dario Brizuela found points to give Joan Penarroya’s squad a 42-36 lead at halftime.
However, Kevin Punter started scoring in bunches, while Willy Hernangomez also found the bottom of the basket to help Barcelona pull away and take the blowout victory. Rivero scored 16 points, Jokubaitis added 14 points, and Sorkin put in 12 points in the loss. Punter led all scorers with 28 points, while Hernangomez and Parker scored 14 points apiece in the win.
Next up for Maccabi will be a date at Baskonia on Friday night, followed by a State Cup semifinal derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv on Monday night in Jerusalem.
“We were there in the first half with our energy,” Katash said. “In the second half, we turned over the ball, we let them run and get cheap points, which allowed them to get into a rhythm. When Barca started shooting like that, they gained momentum, and we were not consistent. At the end of the game, we tried to share the time and protect some players. But to win the game, you need to play almost perfectly for 40 minutes, and we need to keep learning from that.”
English (US) ·