Hapoel Tel Aviv downed Red Star Belgrade 81-80 as Elijah Bryant recorded a double-double while Vasilije Micic hit a couple of clutch triples down the stretch to notch the Reds’ first Euroleague win of the season and even their continental record at 1-1. Next up for Hapoel is a date with Real Madrid back at their temporary home base in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad jumped out to an early lead with Bryant and Zach LeDay leading the way, but Tyson Carter, Jared Butler and Jordan Nwora all kept Ibon Navarro’s team in the game. However, Antonio Blakeney nailed his shots while Vasilije Micic drilled home a pair of late 3-pointers to keep Hapoel ahead for good as they recorded the win.

Bryant scored 18 points, Blakeney and LeDay added 12 points each while Micic put in 11 points in the victory. Butler scored 16 points, Nwora dropped 13 points and Carter put in 12 points in the loss.

Elijah Bryant for Hapoel Tel Aviv and Tyson Carter for Red Star Belgrade started to fill the basket for their respective teams, while Zach LeDay and Jared Butler did the same but buckets from Ish Wainright helped the Reds to a 28-18 lead after the opening quarter. Ognen Dobric, Nick Weiler-Babb and Semi Ojeleye all scored to cut the lead, Antonio Blakeney quickly quelled the storm but Jordan Nwora and Carter kept Ibon Navarro’s team close however, Elijah Bryant scored with ease to give Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad a 45-35 advantage at halftime.

Vasilije Micic and Tomas Satoransky led off the third quarter with points, Butler and Nwora responded, LeDay came back with a floater and a triple while Eugene German also scored to keep Hapoel in front 67-59 after thirty minutes of play. Blakeney and Odiase began the fourth quarter with points, Carter, Chima Moneke and Ebuka Izundu tried to keep Red Star in the game, but Micic drained a pair of long range 3-pointers to sew up the win.

Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis spoke about the victory, “Very big win, it was a statement for us and a character win. We controlled the game for mist of the time. We played almost 35 minutes with ball movement and team basketball but then with five minutes left we wanted the get to end but we needed to get there.”

The MVP of the game, Elijah Bryant added, “I watch the film and see where I can get better, but there are a lot of things that we can fix. It starts with defense and it’s a credit to coach and the players for sticking together.”