Jerusalem, June 12 – Israeli EuroCup side Hapoel Tel Aviv achieved an impressive 112-74 home win over Euroleague team Maccabi Tel Aviv in Game 2 of the Israeli Super League final series.
Hapoel thus tied the best-of-three series at 1-1, forcing a decisive third game to be held on Tuesday at Maccabi’s home arena, reports Xinhua.
Game 2 was delayed by 45 minutes after Hapoel fans lit flares, in front of a full house of 3,500 at the Shlomo Group Arena in northern Tel Aviv.
Jordan McRae inspired Hapoel to completely dominate the first quarter, ending 36-17 before Xavier Munford helped the hosts improve to 58-33.
Wade Baldwin reduced the margin to 59-42 by halftime but three-pointers by Munford, McRae and J’Covan Brown helped Hapoel extended lead at 86-59.
After Maccabi cut the deficience to 86-65 by the end of the third quarter, Hapoel increased the margin to 40, in one of Hapoel’s greatest wins in the history of derby games.
Munford scored a game-high 26 points, while McRae added 21 more. Idan Zalmanson scored 14 points for Hapoel. Baldwin scored 18 points for Maccabi.