Hapoel Defeats Be'er Sheva!

Today (Friday), Hapoel continued its Winner Cup title defense and secured a place in the quarterfinals. The team defeated Hapoel Be'er Sheva 83-69 at Pais Arena, clinching first place in Group D and setting up a quarterfinal meeting with Bnei Herzliya. This will be the third consecutive season in which Hapoel and Herzliya meet in the Winner Cup quarterfinals.

Hapoel scorers: Ethan Burg 16, Kenny Lofton Jr. 15, Shake Milton 13, Jaleen Smith 12, Devontae Cacok 8, Nimrod Levi and David Roddy 7 each, Gaby Chachashvili 5.

After defeating Maccabi Ashdod by 33 points (110-77) in its previous game in the tournament, Hapoel also started strongly against the team from the south, taking a 20-9 lead after around five minutes. Hapoel later saw the entire lead disappear, but quickly regained control and held its opponent to just six points in the second quarter. That allowed the team to rebuild a comfortable advantage and remain in full control throughout the second half.

Despite the comfortable victory, perhaps the most unusual statistic of the night for Hapoel was a negative one - just 1-of-20 from beyond the arc. Nimrod Levi, incidentally, made the team's only three-pointer. Ethan Burg led Hapoel in scoring with 16 points, shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from two-point range.

Hapoel fans created a great atmosphere at Pais Arena (Photo: Danny Maron)

Our ambassador Papi (Photo: Danny Maron)

Game Recap

Hapoel opened the game in white with Burg, Roddy, Smith, Lofton Jr. and Chachashvili, while the visitors in red started with Cavill, Gut, Coleman, Avivi and Smith.

Hapoel started well and built a double-digit lead (20-9) just over five minutes into the game. Be'er Sheva/Dimona responded with an impressive 15-3 run led by Cavill to take the lead. Burg and Milton then led another turnaround before the buzzer, giving the hosts a 28-27 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

After the teams combined for 55 points in the opening ten minutes, the pace slowed considerably in the second quarter, with the two sides scoring just 22 points combined. Sixteen of those belonged to Hapoel, which once again pulled away to a double-digit lead. Hapoel led 44-33 at halftime.

The lead grew to 16 midway through the third quarter following a Cacok dunk, but the visitors refused to go away, with Coleman and Doron helping cut into the deficit. Hapoel led 62-52 heading into the final ten minutes at Pais Arena.

The visitors' mini-run continued at the start of the fourth quarter, as the gap was reduced to just six points. At that point, Obradovic's players responded with a 10-0 run, restoring the 16-point advantage and effectively putting the game away. Hapoel won 83-69.

Burg. Led Hapoel with 16 points (Photo: Danny Maron)

Lofton Jr. The visitors struggled with his physicality (Photo: Danny Maron)

Hapoel held its opponent to just six points in the second quarter (Photo: Danny Maron)

Milton. One of four Hapoel players to score in double figures (Photo: Danny Maron)

Obradovic thanked the fans for their support after the game (Photo: Danny Maron)

The injured Harper also joined the team's postgame celebrations (Photo: Danny Maron)

Hapoel will face Herzliya in the Winner Cup quarterfinals (Photo: Danny Maron)