Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv grabs its third win in five games under new head coach Dimitris Itoudis
Hapoel cruises past Gran Canaria 64-87 thanks to big first half

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv showed its strongest collective effort under head coach Dimitris Itoudis with a dominant 64-87 victory at Dreamland Gran Canaria. The Israeli side took the first half 25-51 and never was challenged the rest of the way for an 8-5 record - including 3-2 since Itoudis’ arrival as playcaller. The defensive showing was a major welcome as Hapoel had given up 104 and 101 points in its last two games.
Johnathan Motley and Bar Timor both scored 14 points while Antonio Blakeney tallied 13 points and Bruno Caboclo had 10 points for the winners. Gran Canaria, which suffered its worst halftime margin ever, dropped its second straight game for a 9-4 record, also falling to 5-2 at home. Joe Thomasson had 13 points to lead Gran Canaria and Carlos Alocen picked up 10 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.
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Alocen scored Gran Canaria’s first two baskets and it was 4-6 early. But Hapoel started to take control with Motley scoring 9 points to surge ahead 8-20. The visitors did not let up and led 12-26 after 10 minutes.
Caleb Homesley netted the first 5 points of the second quarter to get the hosts within 17-26. But the Hapoel roll continued with a 4-17 run to take a 21-43 advantage. Gran Canaria just could not get anything going at either end and Caboclo had two baskets and the cushion was 25-51 at the break. The 26-point differential was the worst in a half for Gran Canaria, topping the 25-point gap against ALBA Berlin (49-24) during the 2015-16 season.
Alocen tried to get the hosts back into the game with two scores, an assist and a steal while two more Gran Canaria baskets cut the deficit to 37-55. Hapoel was not impressed with 2 Timor triples bookending a 4-12 answer to lead 41-67. The score was 43-67 after 30 minutes.
Miquel Salvo hit a three-pointer and converted a three-point play as Gran Canaria was again within 20 points at 52-72. But Blakeney took over with 10 straight points for the visitors for a 56-82 cushion with 5 minutes to play. The game had already long been decided and Hapoel finished strong.