Hapoel reaches semis for first time after a dramatic low-scoring affair
Hapoel fights off Turk Telekom, 67-61, to move into semifinals

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv has reached the BKT EuroCup Semifinals for the first time after a hard-fought 67-61 win over Turk Telekom Ankara at Samokov Arena in Bulgaria on Wednesday. After getting stopped at the quarterfinal stage in each of the last two seasons, Hapoel is final through to the best-of-three semis where it will play Valencia Basket in two weeks.
Hapoel led for most of the night and took the lead for good midway through the third quarter. The margin reached 12 points in the fourth, before Hapoel held off Turk Telekom’s rally. Marcus Foster led Hapoel with 21 points plus 8 rebounds and Yam Madar contributed 12 points and 4 assists. For Turk Telekom, Olivier Hanlan had 17 points and 6 rebounds, Braian Angola scored 15, and Kyle Alexander 10 points in the season-ending defeat.
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The game got going with Angola and Ish Wainright trading three-pointers. Foster also nailed a three for Hapoel before a pair of baskets from Motley opened a 10-5 lead. But Alexander had a dunk before Anthony Brown and Hanlan each hit a triple to give Turk Telekom a 12-15 edge. Hapoel answered behind Johnathan Motley and Foster, restoring its lead by scoring the last 8 points of the quarter for a 20-15 advantage at the end of the opening 10 minutes.
Hapoel’s run continued into the second quarter, with Marcus Bingham scoring twice to make it 24-15. Hanlan’s fastbreak layup ended Turk Telekom’s drought of more than 6 minutes without a basket. Yoan Makoundou added a dunk, then Alexander and Makoundou made three defensive stops with blocked shots that led to 5 points by Turk Telekom, including a triple from Angola as the visitors closed within 26-24. Hapoel held on 28-26 at the break.
Turk Telekom had a superb start to the third quarter, with Speedy Smith knocking down a pair of triples in a 0-8 run that put the visitors up 30-34. But Foster answered with 2 threes of his own and then made his third in a span of less than 2 and a half minutes as Hapoel went up 43-37. Joe Ragland made tough runners on three consecutive possessions that extended the margin to 8 points going into the final minute of the third quarter, and Hapoel led 52-45 after three quarters.
Javon Bess nailed a triple for his only points of the night to cut it the margin to 53-48, but Foster made a tough basket in the paint and then Madar made 6 free throws for Hapoel’s first double-digit lead of the night, 61-49, with 4:43 to go. Hanlan’s triple revived Turk Telekom and driving layups by Angola and Hanlan made it 61-58 with 1:33 to go. But Foster scored at the rim and Hapoel closed the game out from the free-throw line.