Despite missing four top players, the Tel Avivians pulled away late and set a club scoring record in the process.
Shorthanded Hapoel overpowers Hamburg 118-101



Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv made it six wins in a row and set a club scoring record in a 118-101 victory over Veolia Towers Hamburg on Wednesday at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall. Despite missing four of its top five scorers to injury, Hapoel prevailed in a game that it led by just 1 point heading into the fourth quarter. The victory kept Hapoel just behind Paris Basketball in second place in Group A with a 10-2 record, while Hamburg slipped 2-11.
Bar Timor led seven Hapoel scorers in double figures with a career-high 21 points and 6 assists. Kyle Alexander and John Holland added 18 points apiece, Dez Wells contributed 16 in his debut, Xavier Munford tallied 15 points and 7 assists, Gil Beni scored 14 and Idan Zalmanson collected 14 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Hapoel was without stars Braian Angola, J’Covan Brown, Tomer Ginat and Jaylen Hoard.
Aleksander Dziewa posted 23 points and 8 rebounds to lead Hamburg, VJ King scored 17, Seth Hinrichs 16 and Mark Hughes made 5 of 8 three-pointers en route to 15 points.
Hapoel erupts on offense
Alhaji Durham scored the game’s first 4 points and Hamburg would lead 2-6 before Alexander ignited a 13-0 Hapoel run in which Holland and Timor buried threes. Only 4:20 of game time had passed by the time Alexander reached 10 points with a layup that made it 17-8. Timor’s next basket stretched the lead to double figures. A pretty reverse layup by Lukas Meisner gave Hamburg hope, but Hapoel continued to roll on offense as newcomer Wells scored his first baskets to make it 30-16. Dziewa scored 5 quick points, but Hapoel led 35-23 after 10 minutes.
Hamburg heated up from deep with threes by Hinrichs and Nico Brauner, but Munford got involved with his first 4 points to keep Hapoel in control. The lead crept up to 48-32, but Hamburg continued to battle back and its bench erupted when Dziewa scored inside to get within 54-45. A triple by Hughes further trimmed the gap to 7 only to see Hapoel score the last 6 points of the half for a 65-52 advantage.
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Hamburg rallies to within 1
Hinrichs drained another triple to start the second half as Hamburg went on a 7-0 run to get back in the game. Holland ended the Hapoel drought with a three, but Hamburg kept the pressure on. Dziewa drew his team within 69-68, while Munford took a seat with 4 fouls – the last of them a technical for punching the ball in frustration. Timor and Wells gave Hapoel some breathing room, stretching the lead back to 7. William Christmas got more involved for Hamburg and a pair of threes by Hughes made it 84-83 at the end of the quarter.
Munford leads final Hapoel charge
Munford scored 5 in a 7-0 Hapoel burst to start the fourth quarter. A three by Wells made it 94-85. Hamburg bounced back through Hughes’s fifth triple, but the Hapoel attack was back on track and Holland’s fastbreak dunk made it 100-90. Hapoel turned it into a 13-2 run to put the game away with time to spare.