Hapoel Holon advances to Champions League hoops Final 8

Hapoel Holon downed Happy Casa Brindisi 81-79 in overtime on Wednesday night in Holon to punch its ticket to the Champions League Final Eight Tournament.

Maxim De Zeeuw scored the winning basket with 1.5 seconds left thanks to a tremendous Guy Pnini inbounds pass from just to the side of the basket to send Stefonas Dedas’s squad into the final round of the competition.

The visitors stymied Holon highpaced offense over the first half, limiting the Israeli team to just 25 points, but after the halftime break CJ Harris, Chris Johnson and Tyrus McGee began to hit their shots.

So did Brindisi, however, as the game went into the extra session all knotted up at 72.

Darius Thompson, Frank Vitucci’s star shooter, kept Brindisi close all the way to the end but Holon’s veteran experience helped notch the victory to set off the celebrations with the club’s loyal fans at the Toto Arena.

With the win, Dedas’s squad finished in first place in Group I as the club will now look to host the event slated for next month.

Harris led the way for Holon with 24 points and five assists, Johnson added 15 points and seven rebounds, Pnini checked in with 13 points and McGee put in 12 points in the win.

Darius Thompson scored 23 points, Mattia Udom chipped in with 11 points and Raphael Gaspardo scored 10 points for Brindisi in the loss.

“It wasn’t a great game, but [it was] a great fight,” said Dedas after the win “These types of games you lose nine times out of 10 and that was the feeling during the game as it was difficult battle. It’s a new environment for us with the fans back in the stands and we recorded a really big win against a very tough team from Italy.”

De Zeeuw, who scored the winning bucket, reflected on the inbounds pass from Pnini that helped notch the victory.

“It was just experience. He just made a small motion and I knew I had to go to that spot on the floor. I took a chance to go quicker and then I just had to put the ball in the basket. It was like a striker scoring a goal. After the basket I ran and ran and if they didn’t stop me I would have run forever. This was amazing for the fans and for the club.”