Another closely fought road win saw the LondonLions secure EuroCup Playoffs for the second straight season.
Debutant David Nwaba scored a team-high 17points as the Brits secured a statement victory in Belgrade.
With a season and a half of EuroCup basketball under their belts, theLondon Lions have proved that they can go toe-to-toe with some of the toughestteams in European basketball.
After 18 road games, the Lions have an impressive record of 12-6, withtheir record this season now standing at 7-1 away from the Copper Box. Lastnight, a dream first half proved to be enough for the reigning BritishBasketball League champions - who did just enough to get over the line againsta tough and talented basketball team.
It was somewhat of a homecoming for Petar Boźić who was back atAlexsandar Nikolić Hall - an arena he famously played and coached in with KKPartizan.
London knew that they had to be at their very best to get past TelAviv, who were hunting for an eighth straight EuroCup victory. Their mostrecent defeat was against Prometey back in November, which highlighted just howwell they have been playing in recent weeks.
The first quarter saw the visitors lead by 9 points with 10 minutes ofbasketball played. The Lions were moving the ball well and finding thescorching-hot Conor Morgan - who made five of his six three-point attempts inthe opening seven minutes.
London shot close to 56% on the evening and set the pace for theirefficient scoring in the first half. The second quarter saw more of the samefor the Lions, who had a 14-point lead midway through the game.
From here, the hosts fought back and found a lot of their success atthe rim. London, however, continued to put up points themselves as they had sixplayers with double-digit point tallys. Although Tel Aviv erased a chunk oftheir lead, the visitors still led by eight points heading into the penultimate10 minutes.
Xavier Munford - who had a game-high 24 points on the evening -continued to cause problems as he inspired a late comeback for the hosts. TheAmerican guard caught fire towards the end of the fourth quarter, with a rangeof shots from deep bringing the hosts within touching distance of London’slead.
However, the new addition of David Nwaba proved to be crucial in thelatter stages as he took the reins to guide the Lions to a valuable victory.
The 30-year-old, who has played over 230 games in the NBA, made sixout of his seven shots in the game.
The victory against Tel Aviv confirmed London’s place in this season’s EuroCup Playoffs, with four games still to play before the knockout format commences.
Next up for London is a domestic trip to Manchester on Friday evening. The Lions will then return to the Copper Box on January 17th, where they will face Joventut Badalona.
Watch the highlights from Hapoel Shlomo TelAviv vs London Lions here.
