Hapoel Tel Aviv fell to Ulm 82-80 in dramatic fashion as Israeli guard Ben Saraf scored the winning basket with just over a minute left in the final frame to secure the victory for the German squad. With the loss, the Reds fell to 5-4 in EuroCup play and dropped into 4th place in Group A in what was Dimitrios Itoudis’s debut on the sidelines as they will ow ready for an Israeli league matchup in Gan Ner against Hapoel Gilboa Galil.

The Reds got off to a solid start thanks to Patrick Beverley ad Tomer Ginat, but Ty Harrelson’s team cut the double digit lead down to 48-42 by halftime. Marcus Foster kept Hapoel in front but Noa Essengue, Justinian Jessup and Alfonso Plummer kept Ulm close as Saraf hit a midrange over Tomer Ginat to complete the comeback and take least for good with 1:19 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Foster scored 21 points and Beverley added 15 points in the loss while Essengue scored 19 points while Jesus and Plummer each scored 14 points in the win.

“The game had its runs and moments,” Hapoel Tel Aviv head coach Dimitrios Itoudis said. “We had our run and opened the game pretty good ad managed to tear a double digit lead against a team that is very physical, athletic and can spread the floor and they are leading the EuroCup in offensive boards. They caught us bit we were able to go up by 8-9 points and we had our chances to win the game but they hit some clutch shots and we couldn’t hit ours ad instead we turned over the ball. When we were preparing for this game and we were lacking the preparation due to the players playing for their national teams and it’s not an excuse but it’s a fact.

“Having 17 turnovers and giving up 23 offensive boards where we split the rebounds under our basket is something we have to work on. We have to be consistent and persistent in what we are doing and work out more together so that we can learn ourselves embrace the setback that we have now and learn from it, build on it and move forward. I want to thank the fans that came here and it’s significant part to have them at home and not here, we will play for them.”

“It was a little bit of a slow first quarter for us,” Ulm Head Coach Ty Harrelson began. “In the final moments of both the first and second quarter we gave away some points that we need to improve on. Even though we won the second quarter, after halftime we made some small adjustments defensively and I feel that we derived to win in this game as we won the rebounds and had more assists. We shot at a high percentage and I am really proud of my guys to knuckle down being behind to a good team on the road.”

Patrick Beverley got off to a hot start for Hapoel Tel Aviv while Tomer Ginat, Bruno Caboclo and Bar Timor all scored while Noa Essengue tried to keep Ulm close but the Reds grabbed a 28-19 lead after ten minutes of play. Ish Wainright and Marcus Foster scored, Alfonso Plummer and Justinian Jessup responded, Marcus Bingham scored his first points as a member of Hapoel Tel Aviv while Joe Ragland, Ginat and Foster all scored to keep Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad in front 48-42 at halftime.

Foster and Ragland kept finding the basket to begin the third quarter, Noa Essengue and Isaiah Roby countered but a pair of Beverley buckets kept Hapoel ahead 65-61 after thirty minutes of action. Beverley continued his scoring spree into the fourth quarter while Foster also found points, Jesus tried to keep the game tight with a pair of triples, Alfonso Plummer and Ben Saraf scored as well to give Ulm a 81-80 lead with just over a minute left as the German side closed out the win.