Hapoel Jerusalem left the elimination from the Winner’s Cup behind them and marked their first official match for the 2022/23 season this evening (Monday), when they defeated the Turkish Druzhpaka 67:69 in the FIBA Champions League in front of 5,547 spectators in the arena.
It wasn’t an impressive offensive display from the Reds from the capital, who are still trying to consolidate the fresh squad built under new coach Aleksandar Džikić, but the Serbian’s players showed character when they came back from a double-digit deficit in the first half, and survived a close battle en route to starting the European season on the right foot.
Scored for Hapoel Jerusalem: Kadin Carrington 17, Liwai Randolph 13, Zach Hankins 10 and 9 rebounds, Speedy Smith 8, Oz Blazer 7, Or Cornelius 5, Noam Doberat 4, Sim Sander Vena 3, Marks Meiris 2.
the progress of the game
Quarter 1:
The first point for the Reds was achieved by Hankins after more than four minutes, and only about a minute later came the first field goal, in the form of a three-pointer by Or Cornelius. In the meantime, the Turks had already gained a double-digit lead and Olaseni scored 5:15. Carrington came off the bench well, and Neh the minor to 17:11 with a three-pointer, but Osmani and Starks returned the gap to 10. Doberat and Carrington traded baskets with McCullough and Saili, en route to15:25 Turkish at the end of the quarter.