Hapoel Tel Aviv downed Nes Ziona 89-63 as the Reds set the tone early by jumping out to a quick double digit lead and never looked back to take the win. Next up for Dimitrios Itoudis’s squad is a Euroleague double week with a date against Partizan Belgrade on Wednesday and a matchup at Olympiacos on Friday.

Antonio Blakeney scored on the outside and Tomer Ginat along with Guy Palatin found points on the inside for Hapoel Tel Aviv as Spencer Weisz tried to keep Nes Ziona close early on but found themselves in a 30-18 hole after the opening quarter. Ish Wainright and Iftach Ziv scored, Itay Moskovitz had the hot hand for the visitors, the Hapoel big men Jonathan Motley and Tai Odiase filled the basket while Blakeney did the same from deep to give the hosts a 56-39 halftime advantage.

Tai Odiase took control in the third quarter, Motley also scored while Kasey Sheperd responded at the other end but Ziv kept scoring to keep Hapoel in front 75-49 after thirty minutes. Moskovitz scored with ease, but Odiase and Wainright came back with points while Tyler Ennis went from deep to put the finishing touches on a Hapoel win.

Odiase scored 18 points, Blakeney scored 12 points and Ziv scored 11 points in the win while Moskovitz scored 18 points and Weisz 11 points in the loss.

“We were the better team on the court,” Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis began. “We tried to do several things with different combinations with our lineups and tried to sustain what we want to do in the long term. I’m satisfied as to how we handled the situation for the most part. The fans created a great atmosphere and we had over 500 Israelis in Bulgaria for the win over Monaco.”

The Reds bench boss continued about the Euroleague return to Israel, “Everyone who works at Hapoel Tel Aviv and the announcement that was made have worked hard but the truth is there was no a vote, they said let’s reconsider and monitor the geopolitical negotiations and hopefully the peace will be sustained and then we will reevaluate. I will be more than happy if that’s the date to return on December 1st and we are now waiting on the revaluation. The people in the club will have their talks with the Euroleague shareholders and hopefully the games will be back for all sports in Israel and it’s big thing to play here in front of our fans.”

“It’s not fun to allow 30 points in the first quarter,” Nes Ziona Head Coach Amit Sherf began. “From there we had to chase after the game. We can’t come into a game like this where we didn’t defend which we have to do for 40 minutes. W didn’t looks good and we didn’t bring enough to this game with consistency but I have to keep working on the team and my focus. We have to really defend and not allow Holon to feel comfortable. We did that a bit in the other games but not here against Hapoel Tel Aviv.”

The game MVP Tai Odiase spoke about the victory, his role on the team and Israel, “It was a good team win and we played together well. I knew my role coming in so I’m not going to sulk my head. I always stay ready and it showed tonight, when my name is called I’ll always be ready. Israel’s a beautiful place, great shopping and the beach. I heard great things and it’s all true and I’m super excited for the Euroleague games to come back.”

Itay Moskovitz spoke about the defeat, “We need to improve in many aspects and we still haven’t had a enough time together as a team and you can see that there is an issue with communication, but we have a great coaching staff and I’m sure we will get out of this and make our fans proud. I come into every game to win and each game has its own life, we will come into practice with a different mindset and we have to come with that attitude on Friday against Hapoel Holon.”

Maccabi Ramat Gan just got by Kiryat Ata 100-98 as the hosts needed to hold on to the lead after having been up by 15 points with under three minutes to go in the game. Half a dozen players scored in double digits for Shmulik Brenner’s team as Jordan Floyd scored 18 points, Ronaldo Segu added 15 points while Drew Crawford and Joirdan Nicholas scored 14 points each in the win. Noah Locke scored 25 points, Ilay Dolinski put in 16 points and Malik Hall scored 15 points in the loss.

Maccabi Raanana defeated Hapoel Galil Elyon 77-67 as the visitors went up to Kfar Blum and came away with the 10-point victory. Tyrese Radford scored 14 points in the win and Jordan Bone scored 13 points in the loss.