By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
For three quarters, Virtus seemed to be in control, but Hapoel prevailed in the fourth and remains alone at the top of the EuroLeague standings.
The final score was 79-74 as Dan Oturu with 21 points and 10 points was dominant, Elijah Bryant also scored 22 points, and Vasilije Micic had 12.
Hapoel, with an 11-4 record, keeps the top spot, while Matt Morgan, with 19 points, couldn’t save Virtus from dropping to 7-8.
Virtus opened the game leading 24-21 after the first quarter and even jumped to a 14-point lead (42-38) before Hapoel trimmed the halftime score to 52-46 thanks to eight straight points by Micic.
Still, the hosts weren’t rattled, pushing their advantage back to nine points (55-46) and closing the third period up by seven (57-50).
That was the cue for Hapoel to wake up, and after three minutes of action in the last quarter, the guests finally got the lead (61-60) after an 11-3 run.
Alen Smailagic answered back with a three for Virtus (63-61), only for Chris Jones to do the same for Hapoel (64-63). The game ended up being a dogfight with the score tied at 67 and four minutes left, but Hapoel made things happen in crunch time with an 8-0 run (75-67).
Photo credit: EuroLeague