After a single victory out of five games, Hapoel Holon returned to smile with 68:80 over Hapoel Galil Elyon at the beginning of the week, but now the club wants to get back on track in the Champions League as well. The Purples are currently hosting Drushpaka for a game they must win in order not to get involved.
Holon has lost its last two games in the Champions League – to Cluj (106: 101) and Darushpaka (86:79) – and both are out. Now, with her return to the Toto Hall, Mauricio Buscalia’s side have a 2-2 record at the factory, just like the Turks, and to keep a chance of finishing in first place, they must win.
Home presidency is important because it will arrange direct immigration to the next stage and also the difference can have a meaning in the ranking at the end of the home games. At this point Cluj is first with a 1: 3 balance while in the next and final round Holon will host Brindisi and Drushpaka the Romanians.
First quarter 15:19 to Drushpaka
Hapoel Holon quintet: Steve Zack, Joe Ragland, Chris Johnson, Frederic Bourdieu and Rafi Manco.
Drushpaka Quintet: Gabriel Olsney, Troy Coffin, Wayne McCollough, Dogos Ozdemoglu and Nathan Booth.
Chris Johnson missed Holon’s first shot, Olsny had an excellent room for color and was accurate on the other side with first points for the Turks. After the two fouls, Bourdieu scored a three and gave Holonia first points. Both teams were pretty inaccurate, Steve Zack took an offensive rebound and made it 5: 5. But the Turks were more dominant in the first minutes, Booth scored a 3-pointer and Makluch finished bursting on the way to 5:10. Holon missed without a break and on the other side, the Turks got into the rhythm and punished, Ozdemiroglu finished bursting and running 2: 9, on the way to 7:15. Buscalia took a timeout, followed by Rafi Manco scoring first points and stopping the visitors’ momentum a bit, followed by a first three by Ragland, 15:12. After Isaiah Pineiro scored for the Turks, Guy Pnini who came on to play provided a great assist to Michael Kaiser who also squeezed an offense, punctured from the line and finished a bad quarter of Holon attacks with reasons for optimism, 19:15.
Second quarter 27:29 to Drushpaka
The teams continued to present a poor offensive game to say the least even at the start of the second quarter. Bourdieu drove the crowd crazy with a great entry to the basket and a squeeze of offense but missed from the line, on the other side, a layup by Troy Slim Sub left the difference at 4 points, 17:21. After long minutes without a basket on either side, Pennini provided a wonderful assist to Chris Johnson who scored under the basket. Holon remained close, before Steven Gray put them up for a first-half lead with a 3-pointer, but a three-pointer by Sinan Gular on the other side restored the advantage for the Turks, 22:24. Immediately afterwards, Johnson and Manco scored in bursts and returned the advantage to Holon. Copine Dyke for three, Johnson missed one last ball and the half ended with a 2-point lead for the Turks.
Third quarter
Frederic Bourdieu opened a great second quarter and set up a great assist for Zack, but the Turks started to loosen up offensively, Holon often lost balls and Gabriel Olseni set up 33:37 for the Turks. On the other hand, Joe Ragland scored 5 consecutive points after an assist and a nice move by Rafi Manko. Holon did not let the guest escape, only 37:36. Later, a great penetration of Ragland into the basket put Holon in the lead again, 37:38, before Johnson Dyke with a three from the corner, Holon looked better. Kaiser scored from half distance and raised the Purples to 39:45. Holon continued to dictate the pace and Guy Pnini also got into things in terms of points, with a move to three points that raised Holon to a record advantage, 42:49.
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