The Israeli side won its fourth game in a row, while the hosts lost for the third straight game, all of which have been at home.
Hapoel shows its quality down the stretch against the Wolves, 81-89

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv pulled away from a valiant Wolves Vilnius in the fourth quarter to win 81-89 at Avia Solutions Group Arena in Round 11 of the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup Regular Season. Thanks to this victory, Hapoel improved to an 8-2 record in Group A, whereas the Wolves dropped to a 4-6 mark.
Jaylen Hoard paced Hapoel with a game-high 20 points. Braian Angola added 18, Xavier Munford chipped in with 16, Tomer Ginat had 13 and J’Covan Brown finished with 10. For the Wolves, Christian Mekowulu and Tre’Shawn Thurman, who fouled out late in the fourth quarter, had a team-high 14 points apiece. Three Wolves players – Eigirdas Zukauskas, Vaidas Kariniauskas and Kristupas Zemaitis – all had 11 points each, too.
Game Videos
A slow burner in the first quarter
The score was just 4-5 after 3 minutes of play, but Jeffery Taylor came into the game with 5:57 to go in the first quarter in what was his first appearance of the season. The 2017-18 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion with Real Madrid made an instant impact, too, knocking down a three to make it 7-5. Hapoel soon began to take control, with Angola and Brown knocking down a triple apiece, 8-13, but Kariniauskas's attempted alley-oop pass-turned-shot went in and set a 17-19 score after 10 minutes.
Wolves refused to let Hapoel pull away
A bit of a three-point contest opened the second quarter, with three of the first four makes — one for Hapoel, two for the Wolves — coming from behind the arc, 23-24. The two teams continued to go back and forth, with Mekowulu causing problems inside for Hapoel, but a Munford-inspired end to the second quarter saw him score 10 points in 3:32. That allowed the visitors to open a game-high 9-point lead, 35-44. Zukauskas's triple cut the difference, 38-44, but Idan Zalmanson beat the halftime buzzer with a mid-range jumper from the right wing.
Hapoel always had an answer for the Wolves
Hapoel seemed to keep finding ways to maintain its lead, but it had to work very hard to do so. Regimantas Miniotas scored the Wolves' first two field goals of the second half, following a couple of free throws by Thurman, to make it 44-48. But, Hapoel had a response every time, with Ginat scoring a layup and Angola knocking down a three, 44-53. Back-to-back triples by Thurman and Zukauskas brought the Wolves close again, 53-55, before another surge from the visitors. Eventually, with 1:24 to go, the Wolves tied the game at 61-61 after Kariniauskas three-point play. The Wolves even had the chance to enter the final period with the lead, but Arnas Berucka went 1-of-4 from the line on two trips, meaning it was 62-62 after 30 minutes.
The visitors' quality came to the fore
Angola made an immediate impact to start the fourth, scoring a three-pointer, dishing an alley-oop assist and scoring a stepback jumper to put Hapoel ahead by 5, 64-69. The hosts bounced back yet again, though, as managed to take the lead, 71-70, after a Mekowulu layup. That seemed to wake up Hapoel again, as the Israeli side took the lead again on a deep Brown two-pointer, 71-72, and never trailed again. The Wolves kept fighting the rest of the way, but with Thurman fouling out with 2:58 left, the task was always going to be tough. Taylor's layup made it 79-84 with 1:33 to go, then missed a three on the Wolves' next possession, which would have made it 82-84, but instead Ginat scored a layup to pull the visitors ahead by 7, 79-86. Hapoel saw the win over the line in the final 33 seconds, coming away with an 81-89 triumph.