Dynamo St. Petersburg 98 vs. Hapoel Tel Aviv 54

Dynamo St. Petersburg opened their FIBA Europe League account with a bang, beating Israeli Hapoel Tel Aviv at home, 98-54. The game was all the more special for St. Petersburg head coach David Blatt. Blatt has spent the majority of his coaching career at Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel's biggest rivals in Israel's league.

Both teams began the game nervously and struggled with their outside shooting. But a three-pointer from Icelandic guard Jon Stefansson gave St. Petersburg a 10-6 lead, and they never looked back.

Encouragingly for St. Petersburg, Vladimir Veremeenko was a key reason why they were able to stay in front. The 20-year old Veremeenko made a splash this summer at the European Championship for U20 Men, where he averaged 20ppg and 11rpg for Belarus. Against Hapoel, he showed his ability to play at the next level and he finished the game with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists.

As well as the performance of the young Belarussian, Dynamo were succesfully able to neutralise the Hapoel attack and the visitors were forced to rely on outside shooting, but they could make only 2 of 17 three-pointers for the game.

As the half-game break was over, Dynamo made a fantastic start to the 3rd quarter by outscoring Hapoel 22-4 and that was the key moment in the game as Hapoel had no answer for the onslaught.

As well as Veremeenko, Kelly McCarty's 16 points and 13 rebounds were a key contribution to what proved to be an easy win for St. Petersburg.

Quotes Dynamo St. Petersburg vs. Hapoel Tel Aviv

David Blatt, Dynamo St. Petersburg Head Coach:

"Good quality, good game, good players and good feeling. We'll do our best to get to the final of the FIBA Europe League. I can't guarantee that but I hope we'll succeed in achieving this goal. It's great for me and my players produced a wonderful performance!"

Erets Edelstein, Hapoel Tel-Aviv Head Coach:

"We played against a very strong side today. The level of our performance was poor but it's just the beginning of the season and we'll play much better. We have failed the second part of the game and this was the reason for the final result."