Israeli basketball team Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Dubai 109:97 in Sarajevo tonight, in a match from the 9th round of the Euroleague.
Dubai, which played in this match without several important injured players, such as Bosnian national team player Džanan Musa and Serbian national team guard Aleksa Avramović, managed to match one of the leading teams of this Euroleague season only in the first half, when, driven by the good play of Dwayne Bacon, they went into the break with a point difference (48:47).
Hapoel, which is now in a tie for first place with Belgrade’s Red Star with a record of seven wins and two losses, showed real strength in the second half, when it took full control of the match, which was played in front of empty stands of Sarajevo’s Zetra after the decision of the Sarajevo Canton Police.
The Israeli representative scored as many as 35 points in the third quarter and completely turned the match in their favor. Hapoel won that period of the game thanks to excellent defense, which they converted into quick and easy points. The Israelis won the third quarter with a score of 35:19, and the winner of this match was already in sight.
The last quarter did not bring a big change in the balance of power on the court. Dubai’s attack was mostly limited to individual actions, which did not bring this team a good result because Hapoel players easily defended such attacks. The only player of the home team who was in a good mood was Bacon, who managed to break through the opponent’s defense. BiH national team player Kenan Kamenjaš also played a solid game.
With seven minutes left in the game, Dubai managed to reduce the difference to 11 points after Dangubić and Šanli hit two consecutive three-pointers, and then after good defense and points from Bacon and Ellis, they came to only six points behind (89:83).
Two minutes before the end of the match, Dubai came to a five-point difference, but after a few good attacks, Hapoel restored the advantage to eight points with a minute to go and settled the question of the winner of this match.
Hapoel’s most efficient basketball player in this match was Elijah Bryant with 25 points, and Vasilije Micić added 19, while Bacon stood out for Dubai with 36 points. Kamenjaš scored eight points and one rebound in a little over 18 minutes of play.
