Hapoel Tel Aviv suffered a 97–83 away defeat to Dubai on Friday evening, dropping to sixth place in the EuroLeague standings with a 6–3 record. Tomas Satoransky suffered a serious blow when he fell hard onto the court and was taken to hospital for medical examinations.

The reds led 22–19 at the end of the first quarter, thanks to a 3-pointer by Vasilije Micić, but Xavi Pascual’s squad went on an 18–2 run to take a 37–24 lead midway through the second quarter. Hapoel managed to reduce the deficit to 45–40 by halftime, with a basket from Tai Odiase, however, Dubai extended its lead to as many as 16 points during the third quarter and finished the period with a 29–20 advantage, leading 74–60 following a basket by Elie Okobo. From there Dimitrios Itoudis’s team was unable to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter as Dubai took the win.

Micić led Hapoel with 15 points, Dan Oturu scored 14 points while Antonio Blakeney and Ish Wainright added 11 points each in the loss. Filip Petrušev was outstanding for the hosts scoring 20 points, Elie Okobo added 18 points, Dwayne Bacon scored 17 as McKinley Wright contributed 12 in the victory.

Head coach Dimitris Itoudis opened his postgame press conference by addressing the Satoransky injury, “The most important thing right now is Tomas’ health. I’m praying that he is feeling well and that it’s nothing serious. I can share the positive news that, thankfully, he is conscious and responsive.”

Regarding his team’s performance on the court, the Greek coach acknowledged their mistakes and highlighted the weaknesses that ultimately decided the game, “Congratulations to Dubai on the victory. We failed to get to the free-throw line, while on the other end we simply couldn’t contain their guards, who drew 17 free-throw attempts. We will have to find more effective offensive solutions and better ways to generate points going forward.”

“I’m praying for the well-being of my dear friend Satoransky,” said Ish Wainright, who also reflected on the team’s disappointing performance, “We have to learn from tonight, especially when it comes to our defense, which simply wasn’t good enough. Things didn’t go according to plan offensively either, and we struggled to put the ball in the basket.”

Zach LeDay also joined in the well-wishes, “Health comes first. Prayers for Satoransky.”

He then offered some insight into the circumstances behind the team’s drop in performance, “We arrived in Dubai after a long trip and another game that we had played not long ago. This loss hurts, but we will stayunited. We’ll sit down, review the game footage, learn from our mistakes, and make sure we come back better and more prepared for the next game.”