Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv overwhelmed Besiktas Istanbul 100-82 in Sofia on Wednesday, October 14, improving to 3-2 in the EuroLeague after a decisive third-quarter surge turned a close contest into a comfortable victory.
Hapoel outscored Besiktas 32-16 in the third period, including a 17-1 run that broke the game open. The Israeli side finished with five players in double figures, shot 55% from three-point range and converted 21 of 24 free throws.
Vasilije Micic and Elijah Bryant led Hapoel with 16 points apiece, while Amir Coffey, Zach LeDay and Antonio Blakeney added 15 each. LeDay was named player of the game after shooting 5-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 at the free-throw line, while collecting six rebounds.
Besiktas kept pace during the opening half and trailed just 43-39 at the break. However, Hapoel raised its defensive intensity after halftime, limiting the Turkish team to 16 points in the third quarter while building a commanding advantage.
Hapoel’s outside shooting proved particularly important. The hosts made 11 of 20 three-point attempts, compared with Besiktas’ six makes from 17 attempts, while also holding a significant advantage at the free-throw line.
Ante Zizic led all scorers with 17 points and nine rebounds for Besiktas. Eugene Omoruyi contributed 12 points, and Wenyen Gabriel finished with 10, but the visitors could not maintain their first-half momentum.
Besiktas scored 27 points in the fourth quarter, but the damage had already been done. The defeat dropped Dusan Alimpijevic’s team to 2-3 after five EuroLeague rounds.
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Hapoel head coach Dimitris Itoudis rotated his players in the fourth quarter as the team began preparing for Friday’s matchup against undefeated Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens.
The meeting carries added significance for Itoudis, who previously served as an assistant to Zeljko Obradovic at Panathinaikos. The pair won five EuroLeague titles during their 13-year partnership from 1998 to 2012.
Hapoel will visit Panathinaikos on Friday, while Besiktas will host Bayern Munich as both teams look to improve their early-season records.
