Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Hapoel Jerusalem 91-88 as Tamir Blatt scored key 3-pointer and hit his free throws down the stretch to help the yellow-and-blue to the game one win as they will now look to take home the championship on Thursday night in the capital city. Jeremy Morgan had the hot hand out of the gate, Jaylen Hoard countered while John Dibartolomeo drilled home a triple to give Maccabi Tel Aviv a 24-22 lead after the opening quarter. Yovel Zoosman started to score for the visitors but Roman Sorkin took over with points on the inside and from outside, however, Justin Smith scored in bunches to give Hapoel Tel Aviv a 46-44 lead at halftime.

Smith continued his scoring spree and Zoosman put the reds up by double digits, but a late 11-2 run by the hosts led by Hoard cut the reds advantage down to 69-67 after thirty minutes of play. Jared Harper began to impact the game but Rokas Jokubaitis scored critical baskets down stretch while Blatt drilled home a triple and then hit his free throws to take the victory.

Hoard scored 18 points while Blatt and Sorkin each scored 14 points in the win. Harper scored 19 points, Zoosman added 18 points and Smith put in 12 points in the loss.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash said. “We were able to win the game by the skin of our teeth and there have been many games when we didn’t have the energy that we needed. But the fans were here for us and that’s really why we won the game. There were runs in the game and there were many cheap points. We didn’t know how to use our fouls properly which was an issue. Home court is a bit overrated and we have to come into the next game like we didn’t for the State Cup final. We have plenty to improve on both ends of the floor.”

“We played a good team and there was a momentum shift,” Hapoel Jerusalem head coach Yonatan Alon began. “They hit their free throws and we have to make sure that we have all of our fans with us for game two back at home. As for the run at the end of the third quarter, timeouts are not a magical way to stop a play and runs are natural. We had chances to hit a few 3-pointers in that stretch and we had our chances but we have to be more dominant on the 50/50 balls and they hit 28/29 free throws.”

Rokas Jokubatis reflected on the win, “Big win. In general the whole game was tight and the last quarter when I was on the bench 8 know what I need to do and what I am here for, we did a great job at the end of the game when we were down by 11 points and we kept fighting. We have game two in Jerusalem and I hope we finish off the series.”

Yovel Zoosman spoke about the loss from his point of view, “If we would have played a complete 40 minutes we would have had a better chance to win. There were some minutes where we could have made some better decisions.”

Jared Harper began the game with a layup for Hapoel Jerusalem, Roman Sorkin came back from deep for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Jeremy Morgan knocked down a corner 3-ball and then scored inside, Jaylen Hoard put in a pair of deuces and Nimrod Levi went from downtown as the reds grabbed an early 12-7 lead midway through the first quarter. Trevion Williams put in a tear drop, Morgan and Levi Randolph traded baskets, Khadeen Carrington went from beyond the arc, Hoard put down an alley-oop, Justin Smith put the hammer down but a Dibartolomeo triple gave the yellow-and-blue a 24-22 lead after ten minutes of play.

Yovel Zoosman drilled home a corner 3-ball and added a pair of deuces, Randolph and Hoard scored, Sorkin went in for a monster slam, Harper went in for a layup, Sorkin drained a 3-pointer, Smith put in points, Blatt dialled up from long distance, Austin Wiley scored as did Rokas Jokubaitis but Smith with a dunk gave Yonatan Alon’s team a 46-44 advantage at halftime.

Hoard and Randolph scored to begin the third quarter, Smith dunked and Zoosman went from deep, Blatt put in a deuce, Sorkin scored a floater, Carrington put in points, Zoosman grabbed a rebound and put it in for points to go up by double digits, but Dibartolomeo came back with a basket, Trevion Williams dialled up for long distance as Jimmy Clark and Hoard came back with points to cut the Jerusalem lead to 69-67 after thirty minutes of action.

Dibartolomeo led off the fourth quarter with a triple, Harper put in a 3-point play and a layup, Clark did the same at the other end, Jokubatis and Hoard each scored deuces, Jokubatis hit a jumper, Blatt drilled home a 3-pointer, Wiley putback a Harper miss, Harper drilled home a corner 3-ball, Blatt hit his free throws, Zoosman went from downtown as Blatt again scored from the line to close our the win.