Hapoel Tel Aviv demolished Ironi Kiryat Ata 107-69 as Tomer Ginat made a triumphant return to the club in Winner Cup first round action. The Reds, led by Ginat, came out of the gate flying to score at will as Danny Franco’s squad featured five players in double-digits and never took their foot off the gas to take the victory over Sharon Avrahami’s team.

Ginat paced Hapoel with 16 points and 8 rebounds, Jayden Hoard added 13 points, Chris Horton and Adam Ariel each had 12 points, while Xavier Munford checked in with 11 points and 5 assists in the win. Chavaughn Lewis led all scorers with 19 points and Diante Garrett added 12 points in the defeat.

“This being our first home game, we didn’t know what to expect,” Hapoel coach Dany Franco said following the game. “We hadn’t practiced here at the Drive In for a while as well and this was also the first time the players would be with the fans. Of course we want to continue to improve but winning our first game at home is already a good step. Kiryat Ata were missing a significant player but we saw some things that were good and things we have to work on.”

“Other than the ceremony for me before the game which was great, there’s not not much to say,” a disappointed Sharon Avrahami said. “Amin Stephens is an important player and he was missing for this game and the crowd was very influential for Hapoel. We didn’t go back on defense in the first half was also an issue and other than Karam Mashour and Yotam Hanochi we don’t have experienced Israelis so the others will have to really learn on the job.”

The game’s MVP Tomer Ginat reflected on the victory, “It was really exciting to be back and it took me some time to get used to that. But it was great and a lot of fun and most importantly we won the game. Now we are turning our attention to our next game on Saturday night against Beni Herzlia in the quarterfinals.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv came out flying as Tomer Ginat, Chris Horton and JP Tokoto did the damage early as Chavaughn Lewis Juvonte Reddick and Yotam Hanochi tried to keep the game close. But with Xavier Munford orchestrating the offense, Jalen Hoard and Adam Ariel who couldn’t miss helped the hosts to a 33-19 lead after ten minutes of play.

Bar Timor got into the act for the Reds in the second quarter as Ido Davidi, Diante Garrett and Lewis tried to cut the lead down, however, Horton and Ginat made sure that Danny Franco’s squad went into halftime with a 61-42 lead.

Munford and Ginat continued to fill the basket while Idan Zalmanson also made his contribution in the paint to comfortably put Hapoel in the lead 88-57 after thirty minutes of action. The final frame was garbage time galore as the Reds gave youngsters Lotan Amsalem and Eyal Harel plenty of time on the court as the latter scored his first points in Israel’s top division to close out the win.