Hapoel Beer Sheva stunned Hapoel Tel Aviv 83-82 as Iverson Molinar drilled home a game winning 3-pointer as time wound down to snatch the win from the jaws of defeat. Jonathan Motely controlled the paint early on as Tomer Ginat and Bar Timor scored as well but the trio Molinar, Spencer Weisz and Ron Zipper kept the game close as the hosts stayed in front 50-46 at halftime. Ginat and Bruno Caboclo bumped up the lead to 69-60 after thirty minutes but Weisz hit some big shots and Molinar drained the biggest one of the all to take home the shocking victory.

Molinar scored 32 points, Weisz added 20 points and Zipper scored 18 points in the win. Ginat scored 18 points, Motley put in 17 points and Timor scored 13 points in the loss.

“To be a good coach you need good players,” Beer Sheva Head Coach Rami Hadar began. “I didn’t build this team but the person who did, he did a good job and I’m lucky to have Iverson with me. This is a win of the spirit of the team. We didn’t break each run that they had and I’m very happy about that. It makes doesn’t make a difference as to who is on the floor, but everybody is all in and every day in Beer Sheva is fun.”

“The way the game went it could have gone either way and it would have been well deserved,” Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis began, “We had a bad opener on the defensive end and Beer Sheva is a very interesting team that plays a lot of transition basketball. We scored 28 points and used only 2 fouls in the first quarter and that allowed them to get into the game. We had 8 misses from the free throw line and went 0/7 from beyond the arch and we couldn’t win. Congrats to Beer Sheva and their new coach and that was a significant punch for us.”

The game MVP Iverson Molinar spoke about the win especially coming against Hapoel Tel Aviv, “I felt like we did a pretty good job no matter who we are playing and it’s same motivation coming from the lockerroom. There is hype for sure when you play Hapoel Tel Aviv as to how good they are and of course that motivates you.”

Bar Timor also reflected on the game, “As coach said it was a big punch for us and Beer Sheva had a great game. We couldn’t kill the game but we weren’t aggressive enough. We missed free throws and they made a big play at the end.”

Jonathan Motley scored early and often for Hapoel Tel Aviv, while Iverson Molinar and Ron Zipper countered for Hapoel Beer Sheva, Tomer Ginat, Yam Madar and Ish Wainright tried to pull away from the visitors but a pair of triples by Spencer Weisz kept the southern Reds hanging around but down 28-22 after ten minutes of play. Ido Flaisher on the inside along with Molinar helped Rami Hadar’s team take a slim lead but Bar Timor, Bruno Caboclo and Ginat came storming back however, Molinar and Weisz made sure to keep the game close as the hosts held a 50-46 at halftime.

Ginat continued to pace Dimitrios Itoudis’s team while Molinar and Zipper did the same at the other end Timor and Justin McKoy traded triples while Antonio Blakeney added points to give Hapoel Tel Aviv a 69-60 lead after thirty minutes of action. Weisz and Molinar closed the gap to begin the fourth quarter, Timor scored a 3-point play, Molinar added a trio of baskets, McKoy and Motley traded buckets, but Molinar nailed a game winning 3-pointer to give Beer Sheva the shocking win.