The Real Madrid forward led the charge from the off, ending the game on 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals
Super Mario Hezonja shows the way as Real Madrid edges Hapoel in Bulgaria
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 13 of 38
Regular Season
Hapoel IBI Tel AvivHTA
7475
Real MadridRMB
Overview
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After recording double digits in scoring across his first six games of the 2025-26 EuroLeague campaign, a rough stretch saw Mario Hezonja average just 7.5 points in Real Madrid’s last six duels heading into the clash against Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv at Arena Botevgrad in Bulgaria. In fact, the 30-year-old forward netted just 2 points against Zalgiris Kaunas and another 5 against Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens off the bench in the last two games.
Yet, on Tuesday night, Real Madrid head coach Sergio Scariolo decided to introduce Hezonja into the starting five and the veteran delivered from the off.
A red-hot Hezonja took advantage of his size to open the scoring and went on to net half of his team’s 22 points in the first quarter by going 4-for-4 from inside the arc and 1-for-2 from deep, with the visitors securing an important 4-point lead after 10 minutes.
The game was so tight that Hapoel managed to outscore Real Madrid in each of the last three quarters, but in the end it was the Spanish side that grabbed a 74-75 win.
“I think that the coaches and the staff prepared the game extraordinarily well,” Hezonja told EuroLeague TV. “I think that all of us, as a team, stepped forward. We managed to not make their [Hapoel's] impact so big. Everybody was very serious and we deserved to win today.”
An 8-0 run late in the third quarter allowed Hapoel to grab a 58-52 cushion – Hapoel’s largest lead in the game. Yet, Real Madrid showed character and bounced back with a 0-8 surge to end the period before going on a 0-5 run to make it 58-65 early in the fourth.
“I think that we won the game there,” Scariolo stressed. “When they went 6 up, we didn’t panic and kept clear ideas of what we had to do, and we responded with a great run. From then on, it was still a good game, open and close at the same time, but we had gotten the confidence that we could respond to their runs.”
In fact, a 7-0 spurt by Hapoel saw the hosts tie things up at 67-67 with 6:21 left on the clock. But Real Madrid tightened up its defense, reducing the hosts to just 7 points in the remaining minutes and clinched its second road victory of the 2025-26 season. Scariolo’s side managed to hold EuroLeague’s hottest offense to 18 points below their average.
“I think it’s a big win for the level of the opponent, the control we had during the 40 minutes and the fact that we arrived here at 3:00 in the morning after some complications yesterday,” Scariolo added.
“Hell of a job by the players. I think that our defense was overall more than good against the best offense so far in the competition. And it could probably be a push forward in terms of confidence, in terms of ability to play on the road like we are normally playing at home.”
A rough road stretch to open the season saw Real Madrid lose five of its first six games away from home, with Tuesday’s victory serving as a boost in morale ahead of a tough game at Anadolu Efes Istanbul next week.
“We know what we are capable of,” Hezonja noted. “Obviously, we beat a team that is very hot right now in the EuroLeague, but we need to treat everybody like this: go out and kill. We need to take a step forward both offensively and defensively if we want to be where we want to be at the end of the season, which is with the trophy.”
Setting the tone from the offset, Hezonja recorded team-highs on points scored (19), offensive rebounds (3) and steals (3). More importantly, the Croatia international sent his message on and off the court, and it was heard loud and clear. Real Madrid wants to go all the way and its win at Hapoel is a step in that direction.
