J’Covan Brown shines to make the difference late.
Hapoel outlasts Besiktas, 81-75

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv claimed its second straight win at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade by defeating visiting Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul 81-75 on Wednesday night. The game was incredibly balanced for nearly 40 minutes, with neither team able to amass an advantage greater than 6 points, but Hapoel was stronger defensively in the end and gave up just 2 free throws in the last 3 minutes to seal the outcome.
J’Covan Brown was the go-to guy in crunch time and led Hapoel with 19 points and 7 assists. Jaylen Hoard followed with 15 points and 8 boards, Braian Angola provided 11 points and Kyle Alexander posted 10 points and 6 rebounds to help Hapoel improve to 6-2. Besiktas, which slipped to 6-3, was paced by Derrick Needham with 16 points and 9 assists. Jonah Matthews scored 15 points and Matthew Mitchell and Leyton Hammond added 13 and 11, respectively.
Offenses shine early
Both teams started at full throttle offensively, with Hoard pacing Hapoel and Needham doing so for Besiktas in the early going. The latter provided the guests’ first 8 points, including 2 daggers from downtown to establish a 7-8 edge. Despite Angola joining Hoard, Hapoel could not catch up, as Besiktas found a triple by Mitchell and consecutive buckets by Kerem Konan to retain a 12-15 advantage after 4 minutes. Leyton Hammonds hit from downtown, then Mitchell contributed again to make it 16-20 midway through the first period. Mitchell extended it to 18-24 soon after a couple of timeouts, but the visitors’ scoring pace decreased at that point, allowing Hapoel to trail just 24-26 at the end of the first quarter.
Up and down second frame
John Holland drilled Hapoel’s first triple to put the guests in front, 27-26, but Hammonds responded in style with 5 points in a row to make the hosts’ joy vanish quickly. Tomer Ginat made it all square with a nice floater and Munford returned the lead to the hosts, 33-32, with a jumper right before a TV timeout. The game turned more physical then, with both teams swapping turnovers and missed shots. Kyle Alexander ended the drought from the free-throw line to give the home team a 35-32 lead. Besiktas put Angel Delgado on the floor, and he immediately produced a couple of inside baskets as the lead switched hands once again. Needham showed up to help him from outside with 5 more points to keep Besiktas in charge ahead although Angola responded with the last basket to tie it, 41-41, at halftime.
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Besiktas tries to escape, Hapoel responds
Mitchell and Jonah Matthews got Besiktas going after the intermission for a 41-45 advantage. Hapoel found some accuracy from deep as Angola and Bar Timor sank back-to-back threes that restored the parity, 47-47. Needham came to the rescue with a three-point play that Matthews followed soon after with a nice drive and a triple to give Besiktas a 51-57 margin. Hapoel didn’t step back, though, and found some offensive momentum boosted by Brown to get within 60-61. Despite Berk Ugurlu striking back with a fastbreak layup, a technical foul called on Besiktas’s bench turned into 3 free throws in a row for Hapoel to tie it, 63-63, entering the last stanza.
Brown is crucial in the clutch
Both teams traded baskets early in the fourth period, with neither team able to take the reins. Alexander emerged as the go-to guy for Hapoel, scoring 4 points in a row that pushed his team back in front, 69-67. Matthews remained on fire and drilled his third triple followed by a contested long two-pointer to produce a new lead change, 69-72. It didn’t last for long, though, as Brown evened things again, 72-72, with less than 4 minutes to go. With the game on the wire, both offenses struggled to produce from the field, as the scoring came only from the free-throw line for a while until Alexander converted a short jumper to make it 76-75 entering the last minute. Needham had an airball in the next possession, as Brown came up big right after with a long two that provided Hapoel with a 78-75 edge with 25 seconds left. Besiktas tried to tie it on its last offense, but Matthews missed from deep, and Brown just needed to confirm Hapoel’s victory from the line.