There were plenty of smiles around the Drive In Arena as Hapoel Tel Aviv recorded their first ever win in the EuroCup competition by downing London Lions 76-59. J’Covan Brown was on fire from the get go as he went 3/4 from downtown while on the other side of the court Sam Dekker turned his ankle and was forced to leave the game early as the Reds ended the first quarter ahead 24-13 and never looked back as they cruised to the victory.

Brown paced Danny Franco’s squad with 19 points as Xavier Munford and Tomer Ginat each scored 11 points in the win. Tomislav Zubcic led the visitors with 21 points and Kosta Koufos added 14 points in the loss.

“I’m super excited for the club and guys to take our first win,” Franco said following the game. “There were expectations and concerns before the game but winning in an amazing atmosphere was something incredible and I’m proud of my guys. This is the first step on a very long journey and I’m happy we started off well.”

“Tough game for us losing Sam (Dekker) which was a devastating blow,” Lions coach Ryan Schmidt explained. “There were stretches between the 2nd and 4th quarters where we did some good things, but when you spot them points it’s tough to get into the game.”

The MVP of the game, J’Cpvan Brown reflected on the game, “I just wanted to be aggressive. This is my first EuroCup and I have to set the tone night in and night out. I know what it is about with me. I know what it is about for the organization and my teammates and I am just ready. I’m here, some nights is going to be my night, some nights is not going to be, but most of the time, I am going to make sure I’m there.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv came out on fire with a trio of triples from J’Covan Brown and another one by Tomer Ginat at the end of the shot clock while JP Tokoto also added a basket while Sam Dekker tried to keep London close but the Reds took a 14-5 lead midway through the first quarter.

Xavier Munford scored his first points of the game, Tomislav Zubcic answered and scored on the inside but Bar Tmor had the hot hand as he nailed a pair of 3-pointers to keep Danny Franco’s squad ahead 24-13 after ten minutes of end to end action.

Brown kept scoring at will for the hosts, big man Kosta Koufus picked up the slack for London who lost Dekker to what looked like a left ankle injury but Chris Horton found points to keep Hapoel ahead 41-28 at halftime.

Munford drilled home a pair of 3-pointers, Vojtech Hruban, Zubic and Koufos all scored to cut the lead down 50-37 midway through the third quarter. Zubcic again scored but Jordan McRae and Jaylen Hoard found their strokes to keep Hapoel ahead 58-46 after thirty minutes of play.

The duo of Hoard and McRae kept scoring while Ovie Soko put down a dunk for Ryan Schmidt’s team but the Reds stayed in front 64-50 with 5:43 left in the fourth quarter. Zubcic and Koufos kept finding the basket for the visitors but so did Brown and Ginat to take the maiden EuroCup victory.