It took Hapoel Holon a half to warm up but once they did it was all Guy Goodes’s squad as they downed Igokea 91-80 to punch their ticket to the Basketball Champions League Round of 16 Group Stage. The hosts played solid ball for the opening twenty minutes but once Holon got going Joe Ragland, Chris Johnson, Marvin Jones and Frederic Bourdillon proved to be unstoppable in the second half as they eased their way to a 2-0 sweep over the Bosnians.

Holon was lethal from beyond the arc going 13/27 as Bourdillon hit five, Ragland nailed four and Johnson put in three while the Israelis also out-rebounded 30-26 and had more assists 26-20 in the victory as they will head to the next round and join Hapoel Jerusalem, Strasbourg and the winner of the JDA Dijon and Peristeri series which is all knotted up at 1-1 with game three net week back in France.

Ragland led the way with 20 points and 13 assists, Jones added 18 points, Bourdillon checked in with 15p, Johnson scored 13 points and Javin Delaurier scored 10 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in the win. Djordjevic paced Igokea with 18 points, Nikola Tanaskovic chipped in with 15 points and Bryant Crawford scored 13 points in the loss.

“We came really focussed into the game and we knew it would be a difficult match,” Goodes said. “This was a challenge for us to win our second game on the road. It was a game of two halved in the second we made our shots and we opened up the gap. Our target was to get to the top 16 and it will be a battle to get into the Top 8 as there will be very good teams there and we will look forward.”

Frederic Bourdillon also shared his thoughts on the win, “It was our goal after a long trip to finish the job. Last year we went to the Final Four and that is our goal, we want to do that this year again. I had confidence going in and this was great for the team, I trust myself and I will keep doing my job.”

Stefan Djordjevic scored at will for Igokea as the first quarter got underway while Marvin Jones tried to keep Holon close but the hosts grabbed a 28-22 lead after ten minutes of play. Joe Ragland was a man on a mission at the start of the second quarter as he sent Guy Goodes’s squad into the lead, but Dragan Milosavljevic and Djordjevic made sure to give Igokea a slim 45-44 advantage at halftime.

Ragland kept up his scoring barrage in the third quarter while Chris Johnson, Javin DeLaurier and Marvin Jones couldn’t miss as Holon held off points from Marko Josilo and Bryant Crawford to take a 66-62 lead after thirty minutes of action. Holon ripped off a 14-2 run to begin the fourth quarter as Frederic Bourdillon went wild from deep with 5 triples to pull away from the Bosnian squad for good as they moved into the Round of 16 group stages.