Hapoel Holon defeated Ludwigsburg 69-51 as Tyrus McGee made a triumphant return to club and help spur them to their first Champions League Round of 16 group stage win. After a rough and tumble low scoring first half, McGee who was making his season debut for Guy Goodes’s squad scored four 3-pointers in the third quarter to give the hosts the lead for good as they cruised to the 18-point victory.

Both squads came out playing a high intensity, physical and tactical battle throughout the opening twenty minutes as Frederic Bourdillon scored a couple of key 3-pointers to keep the score very close, 22-21 at halftime. The offense opened up in the third quarter with Ethan Happ and Jason Simon pacing John Patrick’s squad, but it was McGee who scored a quartet if triples as the frame wound down to give Guy Goodes’s crew a 42-39 advantage. The fourth quarter was all Holon as the hosts ripped off a 27-12 frame with Joe Ragland, Chris Johnson and Rafi Menco all hitting their shots to take the victory.

The win moved Holon’s group stage record to 1-1 as they will now ready for a State Cup semifinal matchup on Sunday against Bnei Herzliya.

McGee ended the night with 19 points, Johnson added 12 points and Ragland notched a double-double with 10 points and 14 assists for the hosts in the win. Simon led the way for the Germans with 17 points and Happ added 12 points in the defeat.

“We knew that Ludwigsburg is a very tough team that leads the league in many categories,” Goodes explained after the game. “Before the game I said we wanted to hold them to 68 points and we held them to 51. We helped each other on the court, forced turnovers and stole balls. We scored 47 points in the second half and we started to run as there was a flow of the game and we scored on the transition and fast break.”

“Holon deserved to win and it was an ugly game and very physical,” Ludwigsburg coach Patrick commented after the loss. “In the second half Holon had a run and we didn’t play our structured game as we were missing our point guard. Holon came in ready to play and it was very disappointing that we couldn’t call a play and we let their shooters get open.”

Game MVP Tyrus McGee also reflected on the win, “We started the game off very well and had good energy. We stuck to the game plan and we did what coach wanted us to do and we came out with the win.”

Justin Simon and Ethan Happ got to work early for Ludwigsburg while Chris Johnson and Frederic Bourdillon answered for Hapoel Holon as the hosts held a 7-6 lead midway through the first quarter. Johannes Patrick went from deep for the visitors, Joe Ragland and Tyrus McGee responded bit Happ and Tremmell Darden found points to give John Patrick’s team a 13-11 lead after ten minutes of play.

Johnson began the second quarter with a dunk, Tekele Cotton nailed a 3-pointer, Zack put in points in the paint but Jonah Radebaugh hit a jumper to keep Ludwigsburg ahead 18-16 with six minutes to go in the first half. Bourdillon and Adam Smith dialled up long distance but so did Radebaugh as Guy Goodes’s squad took a slim 1-point, 22-21 advantage into halftime.

Johnson opened up the scoring in quarter number three, Happ and Radebaugh came right back for Ludwigsburg as they grabbed a 30-29 lead midway through the period. Happ scored a pair of baskets, McGee nailed a pair of corner 3-balls and then added two from the top to give the hosts a 42-39 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Zack got the fourth quarter underway with points in the paint, Simon matched him at the other end while Ragland put in a layup and Zack added a dunk to bump up Holon’s lead to 48-41 with 7:07 left in regulation time. McGee put in a layup, Menco scored a floater and Ragland drilled home a triple as did Menco to bump the lead up to 59-43 with 4:36 remaining in the final frame. Simon scored but Ragland and McGee immediately answered from deep to close out the 18-point win.

Hapoel Beer Sheva dropped Hapoel Tel Aviv 77-65 to win their second league game in a row and move them further away from the relegation zone. Tel Aviv came out strong and grabbed a 41-35 lead at halftime as JP Tokoto and J’Covan Brown led the way. But Christoforos Livadiotis’s squad came storming back with a 42-24 second half as Dererk Pardon and Junior Etou paced the visitors to take the 12-point win. Pardon scored 20 points and grabbed 12 boards, Etou added 21 points and Cody Demps scored 11 points in the win. Tokoto scored 13 points and Brown added 12 points in the defeat.