Hapoel Tel Aviv came up short to Fenerbahce 74-68 in a terrific contest that saw Talen Horton-Tucker and Devon Hall keep the hosts in front after a low scoring first half in a game that was held in Munich due to the security situation between Turkey and Israel. The Reds grabbed an early 28-27 lead at halftime thanks to Elijah Bryant and Vasilije Micic but the duo of Horton-Tucker and Hall proved to be unstoppable as Dimitrios Itoudis’s side came up short to see their Euroleague record drop to 8-3 on the young season. Prior to the game, Itoudis along with assistant coach Stefanos Dedas as well as Jonathan Motley were welcomed back after having previously played for Fenerbahce.

Talen Horton-Tucker scored for Fenerbahce while Jonathan Motley put in points from the inside and the outside as Wade Baldwin and Chris Jones traded baskets but a dunk by Armando Bacot dunked to tie the game up at 13-13 after ten minutes of play. Vasilije MIcic put in a triple and deuce and Dan Oturu scored a pair inside, Davon Hall answered from deep while Khem Birch, Horton-Tucker, Bonzie Colson and Onuralp Bitim all scored by the Reds headed into halftime nursing a 1-point, 28-27 advantage.

Fenerbahce ripped off an 11-0 run to begin the third quarter as Tarik Biberovic and Horton-Tucker scored, Bryant started to cut down the lead, Motley scored as well, Bonzie Colson went for a pair from downtown, but Baldwin and Horton Tucker kept Sarunas Jasielvicius in front 54-44 at halftime. Bryant and Wainwright scored to lead off the fourth quarter Blakeney scored as well, Hall, Melli and Bitim all scored, Micic went from the inside and outside, while Hall kept fining points to wrap up the 74-68 win.

Horton-Tucker scored 15 points, Hall added 14 points and Biberovic scored 10 points in the win, Bryant has 19 points, Motley added 14 points and Micic put in 11 points in the win.

“We had a good first half, we were ahead by 5 and we let them score easy baskets,” Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis said. “In such a close game you can’t lose an advantage. Because we made a lot of substitutions to prevent their guards from creating, they also made a lot of substitutions. We were good in the second quarter and found the right player. The fact that they took so many rebounds on offense, even after free throws, hurt us.”

Itoudis added, “We played against the Euroleague champion, a team that was built to go all the way, we can learn from this game. We are ready to accept the challenge and the lesson. They play physical, but we also responded with physicality. I said before the game that I don’t like the label of an offensive team, we need to know how to make adjustments. It was also a defensive game against Olympiacos, and we almost won.”