Hapoel Tel Aviv come back from 13 down to beat Virtus Bologna 90-81 and open EuroLeague Round 7

Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv trailed Virtus Bologna by 13 points 15 seconds into the second half. They won the game by nine. Zach LeDay scored 22 points with 10 rebounds, and Hapoel beat Virtus 90-81 on Wednesday at Arena 8888 in Sofia, where they have played all four of their home games this season. It was the only game of the night.

It was the first game of Round 7. Hapoel are 5-2 and have won three straight. Fenerbahçe, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos are 5-1 and play on Thursday and Friday. Virtus are 4-3. They came to Sofia on a four-game winning run, with wins over Olympiacos, Bayern, Paris and Baskonia.

This follows the Round 6 report, in which Hapoel won 91-81 at Panathinaikos.

Virtus in front at the half

Virtus led 25-23 after the first quarter, after Hapoel had scored eight straight late in it to go up 18-17. The visitors took control in the second. Marcus Carr tied it, Derrick Alston Jr. made two free throws, Tommaso Baldasso hit a three and Alston scored again, and a 27-25 Hapoel lead became a 34-27 Virtus lead. Baldasso scored twice more, the second a three, and Aliou Diarra's free throws made it 41-29 with 3:23 left in the half. Vasilije Micić scored Hapoel's last seven points of the half, but Wendell Moore's basket on the buzzer made it 48-36. Virtus won the quarter 23-13.

Mouhamet Diouf's free throw to start the third made it 49-36.

The third quarter

Hapoel cut it to three by the middle of the quarter. Tai Odiase and Elijah Bryant scored, then Micić made two threes, and a 10-0 run took the score from 38-51 to 48-51. Bryant tied it 53-53 with a three with 4:41 left in the quarter. LeDay's two free throws put Hapoel ahead 55-53, and Hapoel did not trail again. Bo Klintman's free throws tied it 55-55, but Bryant and Odiase answered with baskets. Hapoel won the quarter 28-14 and led 64-62.

Pulling away

Odiase scored the first two baskets of the fourth quarter and LeDay a third, and the lead was eight. LeDay's three made it 73-64. Dan Oturu scored twice and Amir Coffey once, and Hapoel led 79-66 with 4:49 left, their biggest lead.

Virtus scored the next seven. Moore made three free throws and Diarra scored twice, and it was 79-73 with 2:53 to go. Bryant's three with 1:25 left stretched it to nine. After Trent Frazier's three cut it to 84-78, LeDay hit a three with 40 seconds left, and Micić closed it with another with nine seconds left.

The lines

LeDay made eight of nine free throws. Micić scored 16 with three threes, Odiase 13 on six of 10 shooting, and Bryant 12. Hapoel made 17 of 21 free throws and turned the ball over nine times.

For Virtus, Diarra had 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Alston scored 12 and Moore 11. Virtus took 33 threes and made nine, and missed eight of their 30 free throws. They had 21 offensive rebounds.

Scoring

Scoring: Hapoel Tel Aviv 90-81 Virtus Bologna (Wednesday)

Hapoel Tel Aviv: Zach LeDay 22, Vasilije Micić 16, Tai Odiase 13, Elijah Bryant 12, Amir Coffey 9, Dan Oturu 8, Eugene German 6, Ish Wainright 2, Tomáš Satoranský 2, Jacob Toppin 0, Antonio Blakeney 0, Bruno Caboclo 0.

Virtus Bologna: Derrick Alston Jr. 12, Aliou Diarra 12, Wendell Moore 11, Marcus Carr 10, Tommaso Baldasso 10, Bo Klintman 9, Trent Frazier 8, Daniel Hackett 5, Kessler Edwards 3, Mouhamet Diouf 1, Rasheed Bello 0, Kevin Kokila 0.

By quarter: Hapoel Tel Aviv 23, 13, 28, 26. Virtus Bologna 25, 23, 14, 19.

What is next

Round 7 continues on Thursday, October 22. Partizan host Crvena Zvezda in the Belgrade derby at the Belgrade Arena. Maccabi Tel Aviv host Real Madrid at the Aleksandar Nikolić Hall in Belgrade, Olimpia Milan host Barcelona, Panathinaikos host Baskonia, Bayern Munich host Dubai, and Anadolu Efes host Beşiktaş. On Friday, October 23, Olympiacos host Fenerbahçe, Žalgiris host ASVEL, and Paris host Valencia.