Hapoel Tel Aviv downed Barcelona 80-75 as Dan Oturu and Elijah Bryant paced the Reds to their first road win after three-game losing streak away from home. The win moved Hapoel’s record to 18-11 and find themselves in 5th place with a pair of games in hand as they try to move closer to the top of the standings and away from the Play In zone.

Barcelona jumped out to a 26-19 at the end of the first quarter, but Bryant and Oturu helped Hapoel go into halftime with a 46-40 advantage. The dynamic duo of Bryant and Oturu kept pouring in the points to begin the third quarter, but Kevin Punter and Will Clyburn pushed the pace and kept close to the Reds, however, Antonio Blakeney along with Oturu and Bryant closed out the win.

Oturu scored 22 points, Bryant added 21 points and Blakeney put in 8 points in the win. Kevin Punter scored 17 points, Will Clyburn added 15 points as Tomas Satoransky had 11 points in the loss.

“We started rusty, let’s be honest,” Itoudis said after the game. “We started rusty and I think that was a lack of official games. But we used it after that very well. In two quarters, we gave up 14 points, the second quarter and the last quarter. The problems for us were turnovers. We turned the ball over too much and missed free throws. But other than that, we had a clear target of what to do.”

“We had a good point of emphasis in the paint, good perimeter movement of the ball, almost 20 assists and I think we were a better team,” Itoudis continued. “So congratulations to the team, playing and winning on the road, in Barcelona. It says a lot and the fact that we are staying in the chase of the play-in spot, it says something for this team.”

The Hapoel bench boss then focused on having to move the basketball operation from Israel back to Sofia with the outbreak of the war with Iran, “It was a very well-executed plan from our GM and all the members of the club. A lot of people had contributed in order to evacuate on time and to be safe through Egypt, Athens and then Sofia. It’s not my job to comment on what happened on the geopolitical part because there are a lot of things happening in the world.”

“My job is to teach basketball and friendship,” Itoudis continued. “We come from different countries, but at the end of the day, we’re united. Hapoel Tel Aviv is new to this environment, but we have built a team with a combination of youth and experience that wants to win. We had our ups and downs like everybody else. Injuries, t’s not easy. But in the end, we’re committed, they’re committed.”

“We’re focused just on basketball. We know our fanbase is a big fanbase and what matters is Hapoel Tel Aviv. The mission of a sports club, in any sport, is to entertain people. Your help as a journalist is to write that and to leave us out of whatever happens outside our world. We’re trying to entertain people. The artists will do it, the singers will do it,” he concluded.