Hapoel Tel Aviv downed Promitheas Patras 84-71 to move into the final of the Winner League Tel Aviv Preseason Tournament. The Reds controlled the pace of play from the get go and while the visitors pulled to within 3-points near the end of the second quarter, Braian Angola, Bar Timor and Tomer Ginat came out strong after halftime to bump the lead back up to double digits as they cruised to the win. Next up will be the winner of the Hapoel Jerusalem vs Sassari game with the final slated for Tuesday night at 8:30pm.

Timor scored 19 points and added 6 assists, Ginat chipped in with a near double-double of 15 points and 9 rebounds while Angola checked in with 13 points in the victory. Anthony Cowan scored 15 points, while Antonis Koniaris and Hunter Hale each added 13 points in the loss.

“It’s still the start of the season and we haven’t been together for much time,” Franco said. “Each player has various levels of fitness and some were better than others but the key is to get everyone into shape, keep increasing each of their minutes and continue on. I’m happy with what we have put together so far.”

“After almost 4 weeks this was the first very good test against a good level team to understand our level and to see what we have to work on and improve. It’s clear that we have to work on each side of the ball,” Promitheas coach Ilias Papatheodorou said.

Hapoel captain Bar Timor also commented on the game, “This was the first time that we had a bigger squad available and things went better than in the last few games. We are working and improving as this is a different team than the one we had last year.”

Braian Angola, Bar Timor and J’Covan Brown all filled the basket early for Hapoel Tel Aviv while Jaime Echenique countered for Promitheas Patras but the Reds grabbed a 21-12 lead after ten minutes of play. Antonis Koniaris and Anthony Cowan found points to begin cutting down the Hapoel lead while Jaylen Hoard and Tomer Ginat responded, however, Hunter Hale helped close the gap for the Greeks to 42-37 by halftime.

Danny Franco’s squad came out of the break on fire as the trio of Angola, Timor and Ginat kept hitting nothing but net as Koniaris and Cowan countered for Ilias Papatheodorou‘s team but J’Covan Brown and Jeff Withey scored easy buckets at the end of the frame to give Hapoel a 69-57 lead. Hoard and Cowan traded baskets as the hosts held serve for the balance of the game to wrap up the 13-point victory.