The third guest appearance in the Eurocup, the third victory for Budućnost Voli. And much bigger than those over Šljonska and London Lions - Vladimir Jovanović's team defeated Hapoel in Tel Aviv (70:64) and inflicted the home team with their first defeat of the season in the "Drive in Arena", in which until tonight they had six wins and a basket - the difference plus 157.
The start couldn't have been better, especially for Cameron Reynolds. The former wing of Minnesota, San Antonio and Houston hit three-pointers from all positions, so at the start of the 7th minute it was plus 14 (23:9), and the 27-year-old Texan shot 5-5 from behind the 6,75 line and had a dunk.
Hapoel somehow woke up, with the help of the stands they halved the deficit, Tre Bel-Haynes restored a significant advantage with a three-pointer (40:28), but at the break there were eight differences (40:32).
In the 3rd quarter, it was constantly around that plus eight, and at the end of the third and the beginning of the last section, the team from Tel Aviv took advantage of the drop in the game of the "blues" and came close to 53:55.
With that result, the home team did not hit two shots, so Petar Popović with two throws and a layup returned six points with six and a half minutes to go (59:53).
We were waiting for Reynolds to work, who in the 13th minute, after a basket and an additional throw, stopped at the figure of 20 points.
Fortunately, Alfa Kaba was on the level and with a basket with his left hand from four meters and a dunk after an offensive jump brought plus eight (63:55) with four minutes and 38 seconds left.
Everything was practically solved when, at the end of the attack, three minutes and 41 seconds before the end, Popović made a three-pointer from a difficult position for 66:57. Soon after that, Reynolds, with the sound of the siren, made his third shot for two, ending a post lasting over 24 minutes and raising the score to 68:57.
Reynolds was the most efficient with 22 points, Kaba scored 17, with 14 rebounds (seven offensive), Tre Bell-Haynes 14, but with a bad shot for two (8-1), and Popovic nine (all in the 2nd half) .
Bonus video:
