Guard James Woodard endured a quiet first half for Veolia Towers Hamburg in their captivating 98-90 overtime win against Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv but he was instrumental when the chips were down.
He nailed 14 of his 18 points in the second half and overtime to engineer a comeback from a 10-point deficit after the hosts had spilled an early 13-0 lead against Hapoel.
Woodard also racked up 7 rebounds and 6 assists to carry his team to victory alongside Lukas Meisner, who also had 18 points. Center Yoeli Childs netted 20 points to go with 11 rebounds to win his personal battle in the paint against Hapoel’s big man Chinanu Onuaku.
With Childs playing in fits and starts after netting 8 points in the first quarter, it was Woodard who carried the momentum for Hamburg and was joined by Meisner in the closing stages of a fiercely competitive match, which kept fans on the edge of their seats throughout.
