Hapoel Defeats Maxima Roma to Advance to Cagliari Tournament Final

Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv faced Maxima Roma on Saturday evening in the semifinal of the Cagliari Tournament in Sardinia, earning an 80–78 victory to make it five wins from five preseason games and book a place in tomorrow’s final, where the Reds will face the winner of the matchup between ASVEL and Bayern Munich.

The Reds started with Tomas Satoransky, Elijah Bryant, Amir Coffey, Ish Wainright and Dan Oturu, while Vasilije Micic was unavailable due to illness.

Dimitris Itoudis’ team came out firing. An excellent start from Ish Wainright, who celebrated his 32nd birthday, and Dan Oturu helped the Reds build a double-digit lead and finish the first quarter ahead 21–10. Bruno Caboclo also returned to action in red, checking into the game early and scoring two points. Hapoel went into halftime with a 45–38 advantage.

The second half was much tighter, with Antonio Blakeney, Eugene German and Zach LeDay leading the way for the Reds at different stages. The game went down to the wire, but Hapoel held their nerve in the closing moments to secure the victory and a place in the final.

Scorers for Hapoel: Ish Wainright 14 points, Antonio Blakeney and Dan Oturu 10 each, Zach LeDay 9, Eugene German 8, Elijah Bryant and Amir Coffey 6 each, Jacob Toppin 5, Max Heidegger and Tomas Satoransky (8 assists) 3 each, Bruno Caboclo, Khadeen Carrington and Tai Odiase 2 each.