Hapoel rolls on with comfortable win at Slask, 76-87

Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv remained in contention for second place in Group B after Jordan McRae poured 17 points and Xavier Munford scored 14 to go with 6 assists in a smooth 76-87 win at Slask Wroclaw on Wednesday. Hapoel improved to 12-5 ahead of its final regular season game at home against Promitheas Patras (11-6), with Turk Telekom also on 12-5 after an 84-89 win at London Lions. Slask remained rooted to the bottom of the group at 1-16.
J’Covan Brown chipped in with 15 points for Hapoel and JP Tokoto added 13, while Jeremiah Martin stood out for Slask with a game-high 21 points. Artiom Parahouski netted 12 points for the home side, with Jakub Niziol and Lukasz Kolenda scoring 11 each.
Slask offered their fans hope that they would finally have something to cheer about when the Polish side raced into a 19-11 lead in the first quarter, with Niziol netting a couple of three-pointers. However, that was as good as it got for the home side as Hapoel hit back with a 13-2 streak which set the tone for the remainder of the first half.
It was a see-saw battle in the second quarter as Slask was briefly able to turn a 33-38 deficit into a 41-40 lead as Niziol hit another three-pointer, but Hapoel replied with an 8-0 charge late in the first half with Mumford nailing a triple in the process.
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Niziol lit up the contest with a one-handed slam-dunk early in the third quarter to reduce the arrears to 44-50, with Slask battling hard to regain the initiative. However, Hapoel was able to stay in cruise control, taking everything the hosts could throw at them with Munford and McRae pulling the strings.
Hapoel was 60-64 ahead at the end of the third quarter and with Slask still breathing down their necks (68-72) midway through the fourth, the visitors moved up a gear and pulled away down the stretch. The advantage swelled to 74-83 in a matter of minutes and Hapoel then closed the game out for a well-deserved road win.