Coach Dimitris Itoudis's team beat the Group A leaders and moved into a tie for second place in the group
Hapoel knocks off Bahcesehir, 84-77
Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv sent a message that echoed all around the competition by beating Bahcesehir College Istanbul 84-77 in Samokov, Bulgaria, in Round 16 on Wednesday. Hapoel improved to 10-6 in Group A while Bahcesehir dropped to 13-3, as it saw its four-game winning streak come to an end. Both teams had already qualified to the playoffs before this game.
Johnathan Motley led the winners with 19 points and 7 assists. Marcus Foster added 17 points, Yam Madar scored 16 and Tomer Ginat tallied 13 points and 7 rebounds for Hapoel. Furkan Korkmaz and Jaleen Smith paced Bahcesehir with 13 points apiece. Smith also delivered 7 assists. Furkan Haltali added 12, Kenan Sipahi 11 and Tai Odiase 10 for the visitors.
Game Videos
Patrick Beverley got Hapoel going with a three-pointer. Smith answered with a jumper before he fed Tyler Cavanaugh for a triple and a 3-5 Bahcesehir lead. Ginat scored down low before Odiase and Motley traded dunks for a 7-7 tie. Smith bettered Motley's jumper with a bomb from downtown for a 9-10 score. Motley kept pacing Hapoel with a jumper and a layup, then Ginat struck from beyond the arc to boost the hosts' lead to 16-12. Foster followed a driving layup with a baseline jumper, but Sipahi and Sehmus Hazer each scored in penetration to bring Bahcesehir within 20-17 after 10 minutes.
Bruno Caboblo buried a corner triple early in the second quarter. Korkmaz found his first points and Haltali dunked, getting help from Smith and Hazer to tie it at 24-24. Smith hit a mid-range jumper to complete Bahcesehir's comeback, 25-26. Motley tried to change things with a layup that Korkmaz bettered with a bomb from downtown. Ish Wainright answered from beyond the arc and Yam Madar added foul shots, but Odiase kept Bahcesehir in charge, 32-33. Marko Simonovic dunked off a steal, then Foster matched that with a layup. Madar and Wainright put Hapoel back ahead, 38-35, at halftime.
Cavanaugh and Motley exchanged free throws soon after the break and Madar struck from downtown, which prompted Bahcesehir to call a timeout at 43-37. Madar insisted from three-point range to cap an 8-0 run. Haltali stepped up for the visitors with consecutive layups. Cavanaugh and a red-hot Madar traded three-pointers before Foster buried a jumper that gave Hapoel a 53-44 lead. Haltali scored again and Sipahi erased Foster's high-arcing floater with a jumper that made it 55-48. Ginat took over with a put-back layup that Sipahi matched with a jumper. Motley dunked and Haltali's layup fixed the score at 60-53 after 30 minutes.
Ginat scored around the basket but Korkmaz did better with a three-pointer in transition. Foster stepped up with a dunk and Beverley bettered Haltali's slam with a bomb from downtown for a 67-58 Hapoel lead. After Korkmaz insisted from beyond the arc, Motley found Foster for a baseline slam before scoring around the basket. After Korkmaz and Madar traded layups, Ginat made it 75-63. Hazer and Sipahi each struck from downtown to give Bahcesehir hope at 77-69, with 4 minutes left. Foster joined the three-point shootout and Ginat added a reverse layup that sealed the outcome, 82-71, as Bahcesehir did not recover.