Hapoel Holon slipped by Maccabi Tel Aviv 85-82 as Hayden Dalton had the hot hand for the hosts with seven 3-pointers as Guy Goodes squad went 18/39 from beyond the arc to take the victory. With the win, the Purples leapfrog over the Yellow & Blue who now drop to third place in the standings as both teams will now prepare for their respective European clashes this week.

Holon will travel to Strasbourg for the second game of their best of 3 Basketball Champions League quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday as Guy Goodes hold a one game to none lead and will look to wrap up the series and punch their ticket to the Final Four which will take place in Bilbao over the first weekend in May.

Maccabi welcome Fenerbahce on Wednesday in the regular season Euroleague finale where a win will set the Yellow & Blue up with a best of five quarterfinal series against Real Madrid. Should Avi Even’s team fall to the Turkish club they will instead tipoff against Milano while in both cases Maccabi will not hold hook court advantage.

“Both teams came in to play this game,” Goodes said following the win. “We had been just using our practices for maintenance, shooting and tactics. We prepared for this before the month of March and we spoke about the fact that there won’t be time to rest and get ready. The schedule allowed us to get into good shape and each player is finding his spot. The fans were great and we had terrific game of basketball at a very high level which I am happy that we won.”

“After a long trip, we played against a tough team on a tough home court and we didn’t hit at our usual percentages which hurt us,” Maccabi coach Avi Even said. “On defense we weren’t able to stop their most dangerous weapon, the 3 pointer and that really damaged us.”

Game MVP Hayden Dalton reflected on the game as well as when he signed with the club, “When I arrived here I got injured and I was out for a month and a half. I worked hard to come back and then I worked hard to get into shape. My coach back home told me that I had to be ready when they call my name; I was ready and I enjoyed the game.”

Oz Blayzer looked back at the game that was, “They hit from beyond the arc at very high percentages and 18 3-pointers is a tremendous amount. We battled the entire way and we hoped to win, but we are still undergoing a process as a team.”

Holon jumped out to the early lead with Hayden Dalton, Tyrus McGee and Chris Johnson pacing the hosts as Ante Ziziz, Roman Sorkin and Iftach Ziv answered for Maccabi but Goodes’s team held a 50-46 lead at halftime. Keenan Evans tried to pull his team even down the stretch but Dalton kept scoring while McGee and Joe Ragland hit their free throws to wrap up the win.

Hayden Dalton, Joe Ragland and Chris Johnson opened the game up with 3-pointers for Hapoel Holon while Roman Sorkin and Ante Zizic responded for Maccabi Tel Aviv as the hosts held a 16-11 lead midway through the first quarter. Dalton came back with a trio of triples, John Dibartolomeo went from deep Derrick Williams put in a couple of dunks but Rafi Menco scored a pair of baskets to give Guy Goodes’s team a 32-25 lead after ten minutes of action.

Oz Blayzer and Iftach Ziv began the second quarter with points to quickly move the Yellow & Blue in front of the purples, but Tyrus McGee scored a pair of buckets to regain the lead 37-35 with 5:57 left in the first half. Dalton drilled home his 5th 3-pointer of the game, Williams answered with this 3rd dunk of the contest and Jake Cohen scored two baskets as Johnson nailed a corner 3-ball and McGee hit one form downtown as well to give Holon a 50-46 advantage at halftime.

Scottie Wibekin and James Nunnnally scored their first points of the game to get the third quarter underway but Dalton answered with a deuce and a triple and Johnson also went from deep as Holon stayed ahead 58-54 midway through the period. McGee dialed up long distance twice, Keenan Evans went from deep, Frederic Bourdillon answered with one of his own, Dibartolomeo and Guy Pnini traded 3-pointers as Holon kept the lead 72-67 after thirty minutes of action.

Blayzer drained a dead center 3-pointer to start off the fourth quarter, Ragland scored a lay-up and free throws to bump up the advantage to 79-72 with 5:12 remaining in regulation time. Dalton dropped yet another 3-pointer, Evans responded with a 3-point play and a triple but the two teams traded free throws down the stretch and Holon held on to take the 3-point victory.