Hapoel crushes Venice!
Hapoel looked great in a 94-66 win over the Italians and rose to the top of Group B with a 5-2 record. Dovrat scored 17 of the Israelis’ combined 67 points.
06/11/2024
| 22:00
| Post-Game
Hapoel crushed Venezia 94-66 tonight (Wednesday) in the seventh round of the competition and rose to the top of Group B with a 5-2 record. The Reds, who have been dealing with a missing frontcourt for almost two weeks, also played tonight with a thinner-than-usual backcourt - due to Jared Harper’s absence from an eye injury, and Speedy Smith being released from the club this morning at his own request. The team’s point guard over the past two years cheered his teammates from the bench for the last time, while Noam Dovrat put in his best performance since returning from a long injury, scoring 17 points - one of five players in red scoring 12 or more - adding four assists and five rebounds, and finishing with the highest plus-minus rating on the court (+32).
Jeremy Morgan also showed his best game of the season with a diverse stat line of 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals for a 27 efficiency rating - while Derek Ogbeide, making his debut in the capital, came just one point and two rebounds shy of a double-double. But most of the contribution tonight came from the Israelis, who combined for no less than 67 points - with newly naturalized Khadeen Carrington leading the scoring chart with 18, Or Cornelius adding 14 on a great 5/6 shooting night, and Yovel Zoosman finishing with 12 points of his own. The cup holders had an exceptional night from beyond the arc, shooting 12 threes at 48%, but will need to find a solution to their perennial free-throw problems - tonight they made only 16 of 31 attempts for 52%, almost the same percentage as from three. Yonatan Alon’s squad will try to keep the momentum going next Sunday against Hapoel Haifa at Romema, with another “home” European game coming exactly one week later against Bourges from France, tied with them for second place in the group with the same record.
Game flow:
Hapoel starting five: Noam Dovrat, Khadeen Carrington, Jeremy Morgan, Chris Johnson, Gabi Chachashvili
Venice starting five: David Kassarine, Rodney McGruder, Karl Whittle, Kyle Wiltjer, Amadeo Tsetori
The first minutes were close, with no team able to open more than a one-possession lead. Wiltjer was unstoppable, scoring nine of Venezia’s first 11 points in a variety of ways, while the Reds enjoyed good minutes from Johnson along with several offensive rebounds, trailing narrowly 10-13. From there, Yonatan Alon’s team tightened their defense and ran easy buckets on the other end, including first points from Derek Ogbeide and five from Noam Dovrat - who capped an 11-0 run in just over two minutes. The hot Wiltjer responded with seven straight points cutting the gap to three before Yovel Zoosman closed the first quarter at the line, 24-20 to Hapoel. The Italian forward’s rest after scoring 16 points in the first 10 minutes left his team clueless - and in the five minutes he sat on the bench, Venezia managed only two points against the aggressive defense of their opponents. On the other side, Dovrat showed outstanding minutes, leading the Reds along with Zoosman and Carrington in a 14-2 run to a promising 38-22 lead, with Or Cornelius also showing good personal minutes. Wiltjer returned and broke the drought, but Hapoel kept running the show led by their Israeli players and Dovrat, heading to the half with a commanding 47-29 advantage.
Carrington - another day at the office
The cup holders returned from the locker room somewhat soft on defense, and after a Dovrat three early in the second half, allowed the Italians to cut the lead by seven points in a minute and a half - almost the same amount Venezia scored in the entire second quarter. Morgan hit his first three of the game, Zoosman and Cornelius added nice drives, and the Reds’ lead grew again to 69-51 before the final ten minutes. Jordan Parks tried to carry his team with 10 points in the third quarter but saw Morgan drain another three, while Chachashvili and Cornelius made free throws to increase the home team’s lead. Similar to the start of the second quarter, Venezia scored just four points in five minutes of the last quarter against the tight defense - missing even easy shots - and the team from the capital capitalized with a 17-4 run including three straight threes - one by Morgan and two by Zoosman. The gap peaked at more than 30 points, and in the final minutes, Alon’s squad mostly focused on avoiding fouls or unnecessary injuries, cruising to an exceptional 94-66 finish.
Scorers:
Hapoel: Carrington 18, Dovrat 17 (5 rebounds, 4 assists), Cornelius 14 (5/6 FG), Morgan 14 (7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 27 efficiency), Zoosman 12, Ogbeide 9 (8 rebounds), Chachashvili 6 (6 rebounds), Johnson 4 (6 rebounds).
Venice: Wiltjer 18, Parks 15, Mortty 11, McGruder 9, Whittle 7, Tsetori 4, Laber 2.
Ogbeide - a solid debut
Jeremy Morgan also showed his best game of the season with a diverse stat line of 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals for a 27 efficiency rating - while Derek Ogbeide, making his debut in the capital, came just one point and two rebounds shy of a double-double. But most of the contribution tonight came from the Israelis, who combined for no less than 67 points - with newly naturalized Khadeen Carrington leading the scoring chart with 18, Or Cornelius adding 14 on a great 5/6 shooting night, and Yovel Zoosman finishing with 12 points of his own. The cup holders had an exceptional night from beyond the arc, shooting 12 threes at 48%, but will need to find a solution to their perennial free-throw problems - tonight they made only 16 of 31 attempts for 52%, almost the same percentage as from three. Yonatan Alon’s squad will try to keep the momentum going next Sunday against Hapoel Haifa at Romema, with another “home” European game coming exactly one week later against Bourges from France, tied with them for second place in the group with the same record.
Game flow:
Hapoel starting five: Noam Dovrat, Khadeen Carrington, Jeremy Morgan, Chris Johnson, Gabi Chachashvili
Venice starting five: David Kassarine, Rodney McGruder, Karl Whittle, Kyle Wiltjer, Amadeo Tsetori
The first minutes were close, with no team able to open more than a one-possession lead. Wiltjer was unstoppable, scoring nine of Venezia’s first 11 points in a variety of ways, while the Reds enjoyed good minutes from Johnson along with several offensive rebounds, trailing narrowly 10-13. From there, Yonatan Alon’s team tightened their defense and ran easy buckets on the other end, including first points from Derek Ogbeide and five from Noam Dovrat - who capped an 11-0 run in just over two minutes. The hot Wiltjer responded with seven straight points cutting the gap to three before Yovel Zoosman closed the first quarter at the line, 24-20 to Hapoel. The Italian forward’s rest after scoring 16 points in the first 10 minutes left his team clueless - and in the five minutes he sat on the bench, Venezia managed only two points against the aggressive defense of their opponents. On the other side, Dovrat showed outstanding minutes, leading the Reds along with Zoosman and Carrington in a 14-2 run to a promising 38-22 lead, with Or Cornelius also showing good personal minutes. Wiltjer returned and broke the drought, but Hapoel kept running the show led by their Israeli players and Dovrat, heading to the half with a commanding 47-29 advantage.
Carrington - another day at the office
The cup holders returned from the locker room somewhat soft on defense, and after a Dovrat three early in the second half, allowed the Italians to cut the lead by seven points in a minute and a half - almost the same amount Venezia scored in the entire second quarter. Morgan hit his first three of the game, Zoosman and Cornelius added nice drives, and the Reds’ lead grew again to 69-51 before the final ten minutes. Jordan Parks tried to carry his team with 10 points in the third quarter but saw Morgan drain another three, while Chachashvili and Cornelius made free throws to increase the home team’s lead. Similar to the start of the second quarter, Venezia scored just four points in five minutes of the last quarter against the tight defense - missing even easy shots - and the team from the capital capitalized with a 17-4 run including three straight threes - one by Morgan and two by Zoosman. The gap peaked at more than 30 points, and in the final minutes, Alon’s squad mostly focused on avoiding fouls or unnecessary injuries, cruising to an exceptional 94-66 finish.
Scorers:
Hapoel: Carrington 18, Dovrat 17 (5 rebounds, 4 assists), Cornelius 14 (5/6 FG), Morgan 14 (7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, 27 efficiency), Zoosman 12, Ogbeide 9 (8 rebounds), Chachashvili 6 (6 rebounds), Johnson 4 (6 rebounds).
Venice: Wiltjer 18, Parks 15, Mortty 11, McGruder 9, Whittle 7, Tsetori 4, Laber 2.
Ogbeide - a solid debut
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