The top of Group A turned a lot more suspenseful as third-place downed second on the road to set up tighter race between them for direct passage to the quarterfinals.
London beats Hapoel 96-100 to guarantee playoff spot!

London Lions came out smoking and finished strong to defeat host Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv 96-100 on Tuesday and guarantee a spot in the BKT EuroCup Playoffs for a second consecutive season. The victory lifted London to 10-4 in Group A, still behind second-place Tel Aviv (11-3), meaning both will be battling for a top-two finish the rest of the way. Hapoel will hold the head-to-head advantage, however, having beaten London 90-98 earlier in the season.
Heroes abounded for London, for whom newcomer David Nwaba led six double-figure scorers with 17 points. Conor Morgan and Luke Nelson added 15 each, Gabe Olaseni 12 and 10 rebounds, while Matthew Morgan scored 11 and Donte Grantham 10. Hapoel got 24 points from Xavier Munford, 17 from Kyle Alexander, 14 from Tomer Ginat and 13 from Dezmine Wells while Bar Timor combined 15 points with 12 assists.
Conor Morgan sent London to big leads
As Munford hit a triple and Ginat finished twice for Hapoel, Grantham matched them with 7 points for London. When John Holland hit from deep for Hapoel, Conor Morgan didn't just answer in kind: he buried 3 triples in a row to vault London in front 10-16. Four quick Hapoel subs forced 3 quick turnovers, but the hosts couldn't score and, worse, proceeded to leave Conor Morgan open for his fourth and fifth triples in less than 6 minutes to make it 13-22. In his debut for Hapoel, former EuroCup champ Will Cummings joined Idan Zalmanson in steadying the hosts but London till led 19-28 after 10 minutes.
Grantham, Luke Nelson, from deep, and Ciaran Sandy quickly pushed the lead to high of 21-36 and London kept it at 15 points until Munford's three-pointer and Bar Timor's free throws at 33-43. Olaseni went to work inside with 2 baskets to make it 33-47. Alexander dialed it back for Hapoel to 36-47 but Olaseni unleashed an intimidating slam and Nelson buried a triple at 36-52. Nelson's next three-pointer made it 38-55, but Timor answered twice and Alexander's put-back got Hapoel within 11, although Olaseni kicked out to Matthew Morgan for a triple that left a 44-58 halftime score.
Game Videos
London outlasted Hapoel's comeback try
Munford, Ginat and Timor gave Hapoel a 5-2 run after the break but Matthew Morgan answered from long distance at 49-63. Alexander and Nwaba traded dunks as Wells and Tarik Phillip did strikes from downtown at 58-69, but Ginat's 2 strong layups suddenly got the difference to single digits, 62-69. Wells struck again from the arc on a broken play to make it 65-69 before Josh Sharma and Matthew Morgan responded for London. Cummings and Nwaba traded 5 points each as London stayed up 70-78 after 30 minutes.
Munford's triple seemed to keep Hapoel close, but Nwaba scored the next 5 points on fastbreak layups to restore a double-digit London lead, 73-82. Munford and Timor kept scoring but so did Sharma for London. Munford's nest three-pointer made it 79-87 with 6:30 to play but Nwaba scored in response. Timor's quick 5 points lowered the difference to 84-91 with under 5 minutes left. Next to strike was Munfort at 87-91. Nelson answered with a stop-and-pop jumper but Munford matched him. Nelson hit from the arc next and Alexander's put-back made it 91-96 with 2 minutes left. Nelson drew an offensive foul on Ginat and Nwaba scored on the other end at 91-98. Wells made a triple entering the final minute and scored again at 96-98 with 25 seconds left. Hapoel didn't foul until 5.2 seconds remained, however, and Phillip hit both free throws, preserving the London victory.