Hapoel Tel Aviv came up short at Valencia 91-82 as the Spanish squad took a 1-0 lead in their EuroCup best-of three series. The Reds came out flying over the course of the first few minutes of the clash, as Jonathan Motley and Yam Madar did as they pleased. However, Chris Jones and company were able to come back into the game but Antonio Blakeney drained a pair from deep to head into halftime with a 48-42 advantage. Jean Montero showed why he’s been talk of the town as the guard began to score in bunches while Matt Costello, Jamie Pradilla and Nathan Reuvers all added points in order to counter Marcus Foster’s second half efforts and take the victory.

Montero scored 24 points while Costello and Jones each scored 13 points each in the win. Foster and Madar both scored 20 points a piece. Next up will be game two on Friday night ij Samokov, Bulgaria which will be a do-or-die matchup with a game three if necessary back in Valencia the following week.

“We all agree that the third quarter got us out of the game,” Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis said. “We weren’t composed enough, we started with a turnover and couldn’t score and committed 6 turnovers with 0 assists. We also didn’t win the rebound battle. That quarter took us out of the game. We chose the wrong way to attack and we weren’t focused on the defensive game. You can’t play on the road against Valencia with the amount of possessions that we have.”

Jonathan Motley controlled the paint while Yam Madar scored with ease from the outside and inside for Hapoel Tel Aviv as Chris Jones and Stefan Jovic countered for Valencia, but baskets by Tomer Ginat and Marcus Foster gave the Reds a 24-20 lead after ten minutes of play. Jones had the hot hand for the hosts as they went on a 9-0 run to begin the second quarter but Madar came back with points and Antonio Blakeney nailed a pair of triples along with a deuce to keep Dimitrios Itoudis’s team in front 48-42 at halftime.

Jean Montero started to find the basket with ease to begin the third quarter, Matthew Costello scored from the inside and outside and Jamie Pradilla scored to hand Pedro Martinez’s team a 65-59 lead after thirty minutes of action. Madar and Costello traded baskets to get the fourth quarter underway, Montero scored yet again, Marcus Foster responded but Nathan Reuvers came right back with a trio of buckets while Xabi Lopez-Arostegui also scored a pair of baskets to close out the game one win.