Hapoel Tel Aviv hung on to take a 79-76 win over Nes Ziona to advance to the Winner Cup finals where they face the winner of the second semifinal between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem. The reds came out strong with fine play from Eugene German from deep but Jackson Rowe, Freddie Gillespie and Josh Christopher kept Paul Corsaro’s team close throughout the contest. However, Ish Wainright and Antonio Blakeney hit their shots from deep down the stretch to help Dimitrios Itoudis’s team punch their ticket to the finals.

Blakeney scored 21 points while Wainright and German both scored 17 points in the win while Christopher scored 17 points, Rowe added 14 points and Amsellem put in 11 points in the loss.

Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis talked about the game, “We wanted to get to the final and we are happy about that. Nes Ziona made a very good effort to build a team and we know that they will be very competitive with players who can compete at the level of the Euroleague. Having just played a Euroleague double week we try to integrate different players which is not easy. But we have to be patient and we knew what we would have to face.”

Nes Ziona Head Coach Paul Corsaro looked back at the loss, “High level basketball game, credit to Hapoel Tel Aviv they okayed a good game and were well coached. We went 12/21 on the free throw line and when you lose by 3-points that’s critical. We also needed to make the key stops down the stretch. We are focusing game to game and when we step onto the floor every game we expect to win.”

Antonio Blakeney summed up his clutch performance and who he would like to play in the finals, “It’s my confidence, but the coaches and players believe in me and give me the ball. I hope I can score more and I made the shots when it mattered, that’s what’s important. In the second half, I kept playing and the coach believed in me and told me to attack the paint. I want to play Maccabi, obviously. We have to get them back. They beat us badly. We think about it every day. Hopefully, they beat Jerusalem.”

Josh Christopher spoke about the game, “We fought every hard and competed through mistakes. We made stops when we needed to and when they made their runs we responded as well. It was a very good game to play against a Euroleague team as well. For me personally it’s a process and practices makes perfect. The sky’s a the limit for us. We all expected to come out victorious, but we can really be good and we are going to keep growing.”

Eugene German had the hot hand from the outside for Hapoel Tel Aviv while Justin James and Jackson Rowe countered for Nes Ziona while Freddie Gillespie and Josh Christopher both scored to give Paul Corsaro’s team a 23-19 lead after ten minutes of play. Vincent Amsellem started to score while Christopher also found points while Ish Wainright and German both went from downtown to give Dimitrios Itoudis’s team a 40-37 advantage at halftime.

Khadeen Carrington started to score to begin the third quarter, James and Rowe did the same at the other end, Wainright went from beyond the arc, Christopher kept finding the bottom of the basket but another corner 3-ball by Wainright gave the Reds a 64-57 lead after thirty minutes. Wainright began the final frame with another triple, Spencer Weisz went from deep, Amsellem drilled a pair from downtown while Antonio Blakeney drained a trio from beyond the arc to keep Hapoel in front and close out the win.