Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Zrinjski for their seventh win

Hapoel Tel Aviv achieved their seventh win in Group B of the 2011/2012 EUROHOLD Balkan League. At home in Hadar Yosef, Erez Edelshtein’s squad defeated the visitors HKK Zrinjski Mostar from Bosnia by. 90:86 after very interesting last moments of the game.
 
Hapoel got the lead from the very beginning of the game, as they were up 5:2 just 1.25 into the first quarter. They remained ahead of their opposition in the next minutes as well, as halfway through the quarter they have extended their lead to 7 points – 15:8. Luka Klarica scored for 15:10, but Hapoel’s answer was a 4-0 run, which gave them a 19:10 lead. Two and a half minutes before the end of the first period Hapoel led by double digits for the first time tonight – 23:12. Zrinjski
 
Zrinjski scored the first basket of the second quarter – 25:22, but Hapoel would go on a 13-2 run, which gave them a 38:24 lead with 6.25 left in the first half. The visiting side couldn’t do anything to get closer to their opposition until the end of the half, as Hapoel were playing good and halfway through the game were up by 11 – 45:34.
 
After the start of the second half, Hapoel remained in control of the game. Erez Edelshtein’s boys were up by 15 points two times in the first five minutes . Halfway through the third period they were up by 13 points – 57:44. Zrinjski once again started to perform good in the second half of the third quarter, as step by step they decreased their losing. Until the end of the third period Hapoel scored 6 points against 13 for Zrinjski, as after 30 minutes the home side were still ahead, but by a smaller lead – 65:57.
 
Curtis Kelly scored for 67:57 early in the fourth quarter, before Edi Sinadinovic and Boris Lalovic scored for 67:60. Zrinjski were having strong minutes, as they erased their deficit to just four points – 69:65 , after Boris Lalovic scored with 7.12 to go. Hapoel managed to break ahead again, scoring 10 points against just 2 for Zrinjski in the next two minutes, leading 79:67 halfway through the fourth quarter. The home side didn’t let the lead go until the end of the game. Three minutes before the final buzzer Hapoel once again were up by 10 – 85:75.
 
HKK Zrinjski managed to cut the difference back to single digits – 85:79. Edi Sinadinovic scored two free-throws, getting his team closer – 85:81 with 1.33 remaining. Bar Timor was fouled with 36 seconds to go, but scored only one free throw – 86:81, but immediately after that Marcel Jones scored for 86:83 after an assist by Almir Hasandic. Gal Eytan scored two free-throws for 88:83, but Edi Sinadinovic answered with a thre for 88:86. Bar Timor knocked down two free-throws for 90:86 with 5 seconds to go. Zrinjski missed two straight three-pointers in the last 5 seconds, and it was Hapoel who came up with a 90:86 win.
 
Curtis Kelly was Hapoel’s top performer with 26 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 blocked shot. Yotam Shiran finished with 19 points, while Bar Timor had 15 and 6 assists. Yonathan Skjoldebrand added 11. Coach Erez Edelshtein didn’t play two of his key figures tonight – Cory Carr and Demontez Stitt.
 
Boris Lalovic scored 23 points for HKK Zrinjski Mostar Marcel Jones landed his regular double-double – 20 points and 12 rebounds, Almir Hasandic had 13 points, while Edi Sinadinovic and Luka Klarica scored 12 points each. Sinadinovic added 14 assists, forming his double-double.