The series will resume on Friday in the Canary Islands
Hapoel beats Gran Canaria 74-65 in finals opener

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv claimed a 74-65 victory on Tuesday in Game 1 of the BKT EuroCup Finals over Dreamland Gran Canaria at Samokov Arena in Bulgaria to move within a single win of the crown. The best-of-three series will continue in the Canary Islands on Friday, where Gran Canaria will try to even things.
Johnathan Motley scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the third quarter as Hapoel turned a 3-point halftime edge into a double-digit advantage. The lead reached 15 in the fourth quarter as Hapoel put the game to bed early. Antonio Blakeney added 17 points for the winners and Yam Madar and Marcus Foster contributed 10 each, with the former dishing 5 assists.
George Conditt paced the Gran Canari attack with 12 points and 8 rebounds, Caleb Homesley tallied 11 points and 6 assists and John Shurna and Andrew Albicy contributed 10 points apices.
Game Videos
Albicy banked in a shot to open the scoring before Madar got Hapoel on the scoreboard with a pull-up jumper. The intensity of the finals could be felt early with the teams trading shots and leads. Two threes by Madar and another from Blakeney pushed Hapoel up 15-11 midway through the opening quarter. Albicy fired back with a deep three but was answered again by Blakeney. After a flurry of substitutions from both teams, Conditt scored twice to bring Gran Canaria within 2 and the first quarter finished with Hapoel up 22-20.
Miquel Salvo’s uncontested score tied it and Mehdy Ngouama’s free throw put the visitors ahead as Gran Canaria completed a 0-7 run. Blakeney scored in the paint to end a 3+ minute Hapoel drought and Ish Wainright pushed his team ahead from the line. Albicy's three-point play evened things at 30-30 and Shurna put Gran Canaria up with free throws. Hapoel went with a big lineup that started to pay dividends as Bruno Caboclo nailed a three and Motley a layup. After a tough basket by Homesley, Caboclo made it 39-36 at halftime.
Motley scored the first 4 points of the second half before Joe Thomasson replied with a long jumper. Then Motley scored the next 4 points for a 47-38 Hapoel lead, which prompted a Gran Canaria timeout. Motley fed Ginat for a layup and Hapoel's first double-digit lead, 51-40. The margin reached 13 before Nicolas Brussino and Shurna gave the visitors hope. Foster beat the third-quarter buzzer with a layup to make it 60-50.
Blakeney drove for a layup as Hapoel kept Gran Canaria without a point for the first 2 and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. Pierre Pelos free throws got the visitors within 62-53. Threes by Foster and Caboclo gave Hapoel a commanding 71-56 lead, prompting a Gran Canaria timeout. Brussino netted a triple and Shurna made it a 10-point game with 2:25 to play. But Hapoel held on without much trouble to move within one win of the crown.