Hapoel Suffers Its First Loss of the Season

Hapoel opened the 2025/26 season with seven consecutive wins in preseason, but after falling to the Brooklyn Nets in an exhibition game earlier this week, the Reds suffered their first official loss in all competitions on Wednesday night, falling 99-84 in a "home" game against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana in Round 2 of the EuroCup.

The Reds went into halftime with a double-digit lead after winning the second quarter 24-13, but saw that advantage disappear completely in the third quarter, when they scored just 13 points while allowing 30. Hapoel was unable to recover in the fourth and was outscored 57-31 in the second half overall.

Dmytro Skapintsev looked excellent in the opening 20 minutes with 13 points, but added only two more the rest of the way. Despite that, he still finished as Hapoel's leading scorer.

The Reds from the capital, who dropped to 1-1 in the EuroCup, will now return to Israel ahead of the opening round of the Israeli League. Hapoel will host Ironi Ness Ziona at Pais Arena on Sunday (16:00), hoping to quickly get back on track and maintain its perfect record in domestic competition.

Hapoel scorers: Dmytro Skapintsev 15, Jared Harper and Anthony Lamb 14 each, Justin Smith and Cassius Winston 10 each, Khadeen Carrington and Roi Huber 5 each, Nimrod Levi and Yovel Zoosman 4 each, Roi Pritzky 3. Josiah-Jordan James also played.

Harper. Hapoel's first EuroCup loss

Game Recap

Hapoel started with Harper, Carrington, Zoosman, Lamb and Smith, but the visitors got off to the better start. D.J. Stewart scored eight of his team's first 10 points to help the Slovenians build an eight-point lead in less than five minutes, before two three-pointers from Harper and another from Lamb brought Hapoel back into the game and tied the score at 29-29 at the end of the first quarter.

Stewart continued his strong performance early in the second quarter and helped the Slovenians reopen the gap, but at the other end Skapintsev took over. The big man not only led Hapoel's comeback, scoring 13 points in the first half, but also helped the Reds head into halftime with a double-digit advantage, 53-42.

Lamb, Smith and Carrington. A strong finish to the first half

Harper and Winston both reached double figures during the third quarter, but Hapoel managed just 13 points in the period while allowing 30 at the other end. Stewart and Aleksej Nikolic both reached the 20-point mark as the Slovenians took a 72-66 lead into the final 10 minutes.

Two Joseph Girard three-pointers to open the fourth quarter pushed the visitors' lead into double figures, while Stewart continued to deliver as Cedevita Olimpija extended its advantage to a game-high 19 points.

The Reds refused to give up and responded with an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 10 with two and a half minutes remaining, but two consecutive three-pointers from Umoja Gibson effectively put the game away.

99-84 to Cedevita Olimpija at the final buzzer, handing Hapoel its first official loss of the season.