Hapoel Tel Aviv got by Bologna 79-74 as Elijah Bryant and Dan Oturu spurred the reds on to the comeback win by out-scoring the hosts 29-17 in the final frame to take the victory to stay on top of the standings with an 11-4 record in Euroleague play while also sending the Italians to their first home loss of the season.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis’s team was down 57-50 but big baskets by Bryant and Oturu along with Antonio Blakeney who hit a pair of triples including one that put Hapoel in front for good helped the reds to the win. Bryant scored 22 points while Oturu put in 21 points as Matt Morgan scored 21 points off the bench for Bologna.

“In the first half, we gave up 10 offense rebounds, which led to 18 points,” Bryant said after the game. “We changed our mindset in the second half trying to get a defensive effort. They have a bunch of off-screen shooters and I’m pretty sure they lead the league in off-screen shooting. So we had to lock in and we were able to get a win. At the end, we were able to get some momentum and find some stuff that was working for us and get some defensive stops and get the win.”

“It’s a collective effort from everybody, not just the bigs fighting for the boards, but everybody,” Oturu said. “When the shots go up, finding our man, hitting them and then going to get the track and the ball and everybody helping, coming in along with the guards coming in to help the bigs get the ball, it’s a huge part. That was a really important thing that we needed to focus on coming into the second half. So honing in on that side and just grabbing the ball and making sure we get one shot and one stop is super important. I think that’s what helped us win today.”

Hapoel Holon needed a last second Netanel Artzi 3-pointer to just get by Maccabi Ramat Gan 67-66. Shmulik Brenner’s team headed into the fourth quarter holding onto a 57-42 lead but Danny Franco’s squad pulled off one of the great late comebacks that saw the purples celebrate with the fans when Roi Rosenberg got the ball in the corner and passed it up top to Artzi who swished the final shot of the game to take the win.