Valencia topped Hapoel Tel Aviv 93-82 as a valiant effort by Antonio Blakeney with 30 points wasn’t enough for the Reds to overcome a rough first quarter as the hosts took the win at the Roig Arena. Dimitrios Itoudis’s record drops down to 2-2 on the season and there will no doubt be demands levied out to squad who go into the Euroleague Double Week when they face Besiktas and Panathinaikos in Sofia and Athens respectively.

TJ Shorts, Kameron Taylor and Dylan Osetkowski all scored for Valencia to get the game underway while Zach Leday tried to keep Hapoel Tel Aviv close but were down 29-17 after ten minutes of play. Shorts and Taylor kept filling the basket, but Antonio Blakenye started to heat up to cut the Valencia lead to 47-40 by halftime.

Nathan Reuvers, Josep Puerto and Jasiel Rivero all scored for Xavier Albert’s team as they finished the quarter ahead 74-55 after thirty minutes of action. Blakeney continued his sharp shooting, Elijah Brant began to score but Taylor and Armoni Brooks countered as another triple by Osetkowski closed out the victory.

Blakeney scored 30 points and Bryant put in 12 points in the loss while Taylor scored 27 points, Shorts scored 15 points and Puerto scored 11 points in the win that saw five players in double digits.