David Nwaba quickly added his name to London's list of aces

A crucial Group A game went the way of the visitors thanks to a parade of players, including one in his first BKT EuroCup game, taking responsibility.

London Lions may have been on the road against a team with a seven-game winning streak, Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv, but the visitors had a few aces up their sleeve on the way to a 96-100 victory on Tuesday that makes sure the Group A race for second place will stay hot over the season's final four games.

The first ace was more like a good-luck charm. London head coach Petar Bozic played the bulk of his pro career for Partizan Belgrade in the same Aleksandar Nikolic Hall where Hapoel is playing its home games these days.

"It's beautiful to be back in the arena where I spent almost all my career," Bozic said pre-game.

He felt even better about the setting after.

"As I said before, it's great to be back home," Bozic said post-game. "I felt great in the arena today."

The first playing ace was forward Conor Morgan who did nothing less than make 5 three-point shots soon after tipoff to open up double-digit leads for London that proved extremely valuable later. Only twice in EuroCup history has any player made more than 5 three-pointers in the same quarter – Adas Juskevicius with 7 for Lietkabelis Panevezys and Alexey Shved with 6 for Khimki Moscow Region, both in 2017 – and Morgan's came in just the first 6 minutes!

Morgan would pass the baton to Gabe Olaseni and Luke Nelson in the second quarter. Olaseni, the league's second-best player by PIR, scored 10 points in three and a half minutes while Nelson buried 3 triples as London cruised into halftime ahead 44-58, having matched the EuroCup's record for three-pointers made in a first half with 12.

Less noticed in that first half was a more-or-less cameo appearance by London's newest signing, swingman David Nwaba, who arrived with a solid NBA career behind him. His first 6 minutes consisted of 2 fouls, 2 rebounds and 1 assist. Despite a couple of turnovers when he came back early in the third quarter, Nwaba retained the confidence of Coach Bozic, who was soon rewarded.

Nwaba's first EuroCup points came emphatically, on a swooping baseline dunk. Then, when Hapoel had whittled a 17-point deficit down to 67-73 late in the third quarter, Nwaba responded with 5 points in a row that let London breath a 70-78 advantage. He would score 5 more in a row early in the fourth to restore a double-digit lead at 73-83.

Tarik Phillip soon dished his sixth and seventh assists consecutively to Josh Sharma and Nelson returned with 5 points in a row as Hapoel desperately tried to rally. A key moment came with under 2 minutes left as Nelson drew an offensive foul on Tomer Ginat of Hapoel, giving way to Nwaba's final basket, which made it 81-98 with 90 seconds left. Still, London needed Phillip's 2 perfect free throws with 5 seconds remaining to deny Hapoel a chance at tying on the final shot.

In the end, six London players scored at least 10 points, led by newcomer Nwaba, whose 17 fell over a 15-minute span of the second half. The collective contribution couldn't have been more crucial. Not only did London qualify early to the BKT EuroCup Playoffs, but with a 10-4 record inched closer to Hapoel's 11-3 in the race for a top-two finish in Group A, which comes with a free pass to the single-game quarterfinals and home-court advantage in that game.

Olaseni spoke for everyone when he said after the game:

"We're just happy. A lot of guys came to play today. So many guys stepped up at different times, at different moments, so we are very happy. We knew they were going to come out with a lot more fire [in the second half] but luckily we got the win."