Hapoel Tel Aviv downed Red Star Belgrade 84-78 as Elijah Bryant and Dan Oturu paced the reds attack and matched Jared Butler’s stellar performance in what was a seesaw of a game at the Jerusalem Arena, marking the first Euroleague game back in Israel for the club. But key baskets by Chris Jones down the stretch put Dimitrios Itoudis’s team in front for good as they took the hard earned victory.

Bryant scored 28 points, Oturu added 18 points and Jones scored 15 points while Butler put in 27 points but just came up short on the road.

Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis spoke about the victory, “Congrats to the team for this important win and congratulations to the fans for this historic game playing our first Euroleague game in Israel, we needed their push at the end and we hope to continue on our way.”

Codi Miller-McIntyre was got out of the gate for Red Star Belgrade while Dan Oturu answered inside and Ish Wainright went from the outside for Hapoel Tel Aviv but Jarred Butler kept the game even at 21-21 with a triple at the buzzer to end the first quarter.

Semi Ojeleye opened the second quarter with points, Elijah Bryant came back with a pair of triples, Miller-McIntyre and Chris Jones each hit 3-pointers, Tomer Ginat and Oturu scored inside while Ebuka Izundu dunked but Dimitrios Itoudis’s side stayed in front 40-37 at halftime.

Butler drained a pair from deep and added a deuce to begin the third quarter, Nwora went from downtown, Bryant and Oturu responded, Vasilije Micic dialled up long distance, Oturu dunked and Bryant went from beyond the arc while Izundu put in a 3-point play but Hapoel continued to lead 61-59 after thirty minutes of action.

Ojeleye scored to start off the fourth quarter, Johnathan Motley came back with a jumper, Jones and Bryant went from deep, Izundu and Nikola Kalinic responded to give Sasha Obradovic’s squad a 69-68 lead with 5:01 remaining in regulation time. Butler put in a 3-point play and added a layup, Bryant put in a basket, Antonio Blakeney drilled one home from downtown and added a floater, Nwora nailed a 3-pointer with Bryant all over him, Jones put in a floater and added a jumper to put away the victory.