HOLON (Israel) - After a slow start to the game, Hapoel U-NET Holon picked up the pace in the second half and ran away from MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg to get their first win in the Round of 16 Group I, 69-51.

The 51 points scored by Ludwigsburg are their fewest in a game this season.

Turning point: Both teams struggled to shoot the ball in the first half, but Holon found their shot in the third and fourth quarters, as Tyrus McGee scored 12 points in the third quarter alone on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from three-point range.

After leading by only three points after three quarters, Holon put their foot on the gas in the final quarter and stretched their lead to as many as 19 points.

Game heroes: McGee and Joe Ragland were the catalysts on offense for Holon tonight, as McGee finished with 19 points and 5 rebounds on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-11 from three-point range, while Ragland double-doubled with 10 points, 4 rebounds and a season-high 14 assists (also the most by a player in the BCL this season and the most by a player since November 4, 2020, when Marco Spissu dished out 15 assists for Dinamo Sassari against Lenovo Tenerife) on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point.

Stats don't lie: Holon got very solid production from their bench with 34 total bench points (compared to only six for Ludwigsburg which is tied for the lowest in a BCL game this season), and McGee (19 points), Steve Zack (9 points) and Frederic Bourdillon (6 points) scored all of them.

Ludwigsburg struggled all-around, as they were -14 in assists (24-10) and got outscored by 18 points beyond the arc (5-of-30 compared to 11-of-33).

Despite grabbing 10 more offensive rebounds than Holon, Ludwigsburg still got outscored 17-13 in second chance points.

Holon blocked 9 shots tonight, with Michale Kyser swatting away 5 of them.

The 9 blocks are the most for a team in a BCL game this season. This is also the most in the league since December 8, 2020, when Fortitudo Bologna blocked 11 shots.

Bottom line: Holon are now 1-1 and the Israeli club will host Galatasaray Nef (0-1) in their next game on March 8 at 19:30 CET.

Holon have now won five of their six home games in the BCL this season, the first time that they have done so in any of their previous seasons in the league.

Ludwigsburg are also now 1-1 and the German club will travel to face JDA Dijon (2-1) in their next game on March 9 at 20:30 CET.

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