Hapoel Holon fell to Darussafaka 86-79 in Istanbul in what was a disappointing loss in Champions League action that saw the visitors’ record move to 2-2 after four games. Holon will host Darussafaka next Wednesday as they will try to wipeout the point differential that the Turkish squad gained with the win.

Maurizio Buscaglia’s squad jumped all over the hosts early on thanks to strong play by Joe Ragland, Michale Kyser and Chris Johnson, but veteran Sinan Guler along with Gabriel Olaseni and Isaiah Pineiro helped Darussafaka close the gap to 42-40 at halftime.

However, Darussafaka began to pull away in the third quarter while Ragland was ejected with a second technical foul causing Holon all kinds of issues as they fell behind by 19 points thanks to scoring by Troy Caupain along with Olaseni and Pineiro. Johnson tried to keep Holon close and was able to cut down the lead but ended up falling in Turkey by 7-points as the teams will face one another once again next Wednesday in Israel.

Johnson led Holon with 25 points and 8 assists, Michale Kyser added 13 points while Rafi Menco and Steven Gray each scored 10 points in the loss. Pineiro paced Darussafaka with 25 points and 8 boards, Olesani chipped in with 20 points as Caupain added 12 points in the win.

“It was a tough game on the road”,” Chris Johnson said following the game. “We stuck together and the second half we talked with the refs but we showed character and heart. It was a tough loss.”

Coach Buscaglia also reflected on the game, “We shot 50% from 2 and 36% from 3 but we have to improve with our box out defense. We didn’t have the same impact in the second half after we came out of the lockerroom. It was a tough loss but we have to improve our team defense and how we manage the ball in delicate moments.”