Olimpia tried hard with all it had in Tel Aviv after the demanding Italian Cup Final Eight that left some of the players empty in terms of energy. So despite never giving up – Coach Itoudis had to use a time out with 22 seconds left in the game, still fearing a comeback – Olimpia came up short losing 92-86.

“Our approach was not good but we came back and the game was decided in the second half of the third quarter when they made some tough buckets and we missed some open shots,” Coach Peppe Poeta said. Olimpia lost control of the pace during the first period and trailer by as many as 12 points but responded in the second with Zach LeDay, who was great througout the game, and two late threes made by Shavon Shieds that reduced to gap to two points at the half. Early in the third quarter riding Josh Nebo energy in the middle and LeDay hot shooting night Olimpia took the lead. That was when Hapoel ignited its scorers and Olimpia lacked accuracy. However a late rally when Poeta opted for a small line-up forced Hapoel to play to the end.

It was not a fortunate night, too. In the first half Collin Malcolm saw a long pass clearly wrong going into the basket for the most incredible of the three-pointers and a little bit late a Micic long distance shot hit the rim three times before going in. And the sequence of unlucky plays continued in the second half when a Nebo steal turned to be an assist for Micic and a loose ball allowed Malcolm again to hit a three. So the little facts killed Olimpia’s chances in night plagued by eight free-throws uncharactestically missed.