Antonio Blakeney had a career-night performance to lift Hapoel at la Fonteta
Hapoel upsets Valencia, 92-94, to reach the EuroCup Finals

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv advanced to the BKT EuroCup Finals for the first time in club history by edging Valencia Basket 92-94 in Game 3 of their best-of-three finals.
Antonio Blakeney paced the winners with 32 points and 9 rebounds. Marcus Foster added 22 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 2.7 seconds left, while Tomer Ginat netted 11 for Hapoel, which will have the home-court advantage in the final series against Dreamland Gran Canaria. Brancou Badio led Valencia with 20 points. Jean Montero added 14 while Nate Reuvers had 10 for the hosts.
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Jaime Pradilla got Valencia going with a dunk and Matt Costello added a three-pointer for a 5-0 lead. Badio stepped up with consecutive driving layups to boost the hosts' margin to 9-2. Johnathan Motley followed a power layup with a jumper before Ish Wainright's basket made it a one-point game. Blakeney made a corner triple and a stop-and-pop jumper that gave Hapoel a 9-13 lead, after a 0-11 run. Josep Puerto stepped up with a layup-plus-foul, which Stefan Jovic followed with a driving basket. Costello struck from beyond the arc, prompting a Hapoel timeout at 17-13. Foster matched Pradilla's jump hook with a fallaway jumper before Sergio De Larrea's three-pointer boosted his team's lead to 22-15 after 10 minutes.
De Larrea kept pushing Valencia early in the second quarter. Foster swished a mid-range jumper, which Semi Ojeleye bettered with a triple that made it a double-digit game, 27-17. After Montero scored in penetration, Foster buried a turnaround jumper. Pradilla's layup established a 31-20 Valencia lead. Blakeney improved on Puerto's layup with a three-point play before he added a driving basket to make it 33-25. Badio and Nate Sestina each struck from beyond the arc to give Valencia fresh air at 39-29. Foster and Ginat rescued Hapoel before Motley's layup got the visitors within 40-35. Ojeleye took over with a corner triple, Noam Yaacov answered with a driving layup before Blakeney's basket made it a 5-point game. Wainright stepped up with a put-back layup and a backdoor basket to bring Hapoel within 45-44 at halftime.
Pradilla scored down low immediately after the break. Yaacov split free throws and Ginat's jump hook tied it at 47-47. Montero struck from downtown before Ginat and Badio traded jumpers. Yam Madar drew Hapoel within 53-52. Reuvers banked in a close shot and Ginat and Jovic each hit foul shots. Badio's driving basket gave Valencia a 59-54 lead. Madar bettered Costello's layup with a shot from beyond the arc. Badio buried a jumper but Foster's layup gave Hapoel hope at 63-59. After another Badio jumper, Motley matched him with a put-back layup before Jovic put his team up 6. Blakeney stepped up with an acrobatic basket that fixed the score at 67-63 after three quarters.
Madar buried a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter. Foster soon added a tip-in and a three-pointer to put Hapoel ahead by 3. Blakeney struck twice more from beyond the arc to force Valencia to call timeout at 68-77. Montero tried to change things with a quick triple and a pair of free throws in a 7-0 run that Reuvers capped with an alley-oop slam that made it 75-77. Caboclo and Blakeney each struck from downtown but Xabi Lopez-Arostegui and Reuvers got the hosts within 79-83 with more than 3 minutes remaining. Badio buried a jumper that Foster bettered with a triple. After Reuvers dunked again, Blakeney downed his fifth three-pointer. Montero gave Valencia hope, 85-89, with 1:53 left. Badio and an unstoppable Blakeney traded three-pointers. Montero dunked and once Valencia got the ball back, he made free throws to tie the game, 92-92. Foster buried a huge jumper for a 92-94 Hapoel lead with 2.7 seconds left. Sestina missed from beyond the arc at the buzzer.