Hapoel Tel Aviv fell to Buducnost 84-83 as the reds blew an 8-point lead with under a minute left to succumb to the stunning defeat in EuroCup play. With Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad seemingly in cruise control for most of the second half and his team holding a 82-74 advantage with under a minute left, Fletcher Magee drained a 3-pointer while McKinley Wright and Rasheed Sulaimon scored to cut down the lead. Ish Wainright missed a pair from the charity stripe with 13 seconds left and a Patrick Beverly foul sent Magee to the line where he drained all 3 of his shots to give Buducnost the lead for good as they shocked Hapoel and took the win.

The Reds saw their record drop to 9-6 and moved into back into 4th place in Division A while Buducnost’s record went to 7-8 on the season as they look to find a way into the postseason.

Ish Wainright with a pair of triples and Jonathan Motley with points a plenty helped Hapoel Tel Aviv take an early 18-10 lead but Nikola Tanaskovic, Rasheed Sulaimon and Dordije Jovanovic all scored to keep Budocnost stay neck and neck with the Reds, however, Bruno Caboclo and Joe Ragland pushed Dimitrios Itoudis’s team in front 50-49 at halftime. Caboclo and Tomer Ginat opened up a 67-60 lead after the third quarter, Juwan Morgan and McKinley Wright closed the gap as Sulaimon also helped the hosts cut the lead.

With under a minute left and the Reds up 82-74, Fletcher Magee nailed a 3-pointer, Wright and Suleimon scored as Wainright missed a pair of free throws and Magee was fouled by Patrick Beverley while taking shot from deep and them promptly drained all three shots from the charity stripe to go up by a point and close out the improbable victory.

Bruno Caboclo scored 16 points while Tomer Ginat and Jonathan Motley each scored 15 points a piece in the loss. Sulaimon scored 19 points, Tanaskovic put in 14 points and McKinley scored 11 points in the loss.

“It was a very exciting game,” Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis said. “We took a lead early and we could have played better defense but were 1 point up at the end of the first half. We played with a different model in the second half and we were able to build a lead. With 1:10 left in the game we were up by 8 points. The game could have gone either way, but in basketball the details are very important, rebounds and turnovers and we allowed them to stay in the game in the first half with 9 offensive rebounds.”

“This was a very tough game,” Buducnost head coach Andrej Zakelj began. “Like some of the games this season where we weren’t lucky but in this one we had luck at the end. The guys believed that they could win and showed character, they were fighting and it paid off. It wasn’t one of our best games, but it was a good game and I am satisfied with the win.”