Hapoel Tel Aviv got by Panathinaikos 92-88 as the reds mounted a fourth quarter comeback as Antonio Blakeney scored in bunches and Chris Jones hit four from the line with time winding down to take the lead and sew up the win. Dimitrios Itoudis’s team moved to 21-13 in Euroleague action and into fourth place with the victory as four games remain in the regular season.

Elijah Bryant and Vasilije Micic got the game off and running for Hapoel Tel Aviv but Mathias Lessort, Kendrick Nunn and Kostas Sloukas countered for Panathinaikos to grab a slim 21-20 lead after ten minutes of play. Antonio Blakney began to find the bottom of the basket while Bryant kept scoring but Cedi Osman, Juancho Hernangomez and Nigel Hayes-Davis scored to keep Ergin Ataman’s team in front 48-44 at halftime.

Hernangomez kept up his scoring as the third quarter began while Kenneth Faried, Sloukas and Nunn help bumped up the lead to double digits as Bryant tried to keep Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad in the game but the Greens took a 75-66 lead after thirty minutes of action. Blakeney and Tai Odiase quickly cut into the lead to start off the fourth quarter while Chris Jones hit four free throws down the stretch to break a 88-88 tie to give the Reds the lead for good and notch the win.

Blakeney scored 19 points, Bryant added 18 points and Micic put in 14 points in the win while Hernangomez scored 17 points, Nunn checked in with 15 points and Sloukas scored 14 points in the loss.

“The players, the team, they deserve the credit,” Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis began. “We played against an amazing team. We were down by 12 in the third quarter, but we saw they were getting tired because they were missing a few key players and we felt we could do it. I can talk about strategies, but that’s not the story, the story is the players’ belief. After two games with poor defensive performances, we wanted to get back to ourselves and we did it in a big way. Tai Odiase is an example of a player who understood his role when he arrived but kept working hard and was there for us. Credit also goes to the players who didn’t play, they’re the reason we have high-level practices.”

Elijah Bryant also spoke about the win, “We trusted each other. It’s a big win, but it’s only one game. We need to learn from this game especially me, I had a few turnovers and move forward.”

Antonio Blakeney added, “We knew this was a critical game for us. We faced a strong team and this game shows how good we can be. We needed to come in and execute the game plan and we did that.”