Hapoel Jerusalem cruised past Elitzur Netanya with a strong second half that saw Khadeen Carrington and Justin Smith pace the reds to the win. Jared Harper paced Jerusalem early while Cameron Oliver answered for Netanya while more points from Javante McCoy and a slew of steals by Otis Frazier gave the hosts a 24-22 lead after ten minutes of play.

Khadeen Carrington started filling up the basket, Diante Baldwin and Amit Gershon responded while Justin Smith worked his magic for the reds above the rim as Nimrod Levi also scored, McCoy dunked and went from deep while Carrington finished the period with a triple to keep Yonatan Alon’s team in front 49-46 at halftime.

The duo of Smith and Carrington scored at will to start off the third quarter, Levi and Smith kept pouring on the offense as McCoy tried to keep Eli Rabi’s team close but Jerusalem went up 77-60 after thirty minutes of action. Harper went from way downtown, Smith scored as well as McCoy kept trying to will his team back into the game but Roi Huber hit a pair from deep to close out the game.

Carrington and Smith each scored 22 points while Harper and Levi scored 13 points a piece in the win. McCoy scored 28 points and Cameron Oliver added 12 points in the loss.

Jerusalem Head Coach Yonatan Alon discussed the win, “We really did the job defensively in the second half. We really locked down and were focused to close out the win. Xavier Sneed came in for Zoosman and we spoke to him during the summer but it didn’t work out then, he offers a skill set that others don’t have.”

Netanya Head Coach Eli Rabi looked back at the loss, “The first half we were not bad, we weren’t great but not bad. If we had gone into the half tied up we would have gone in with a positive mindset as we came out in the second half with a tough start where Jerusalem really dominated many facets of the game. We tried to come back but we couldn’t do it. We’re looking at one game at a time and we need to now focus on the game against Herzliya and make sure we stay in the league.”

Nimrod Levi reflected on the victory and his personal play since returning from injury, “It was a very important game as Netanya was coming in after a good run of games, I am happy we played well and that we all contributed to the win. The second half we were really good and we took the win. This season I am trying to be the best that I can and help out the team, the injuries have been tough but I have been working on my body and I’ve been much more focussed.”

Cameron Oliver spike about the game that was, “Tough game I feel like we had good momentum going into halftime but they threw the first punch in the third quarter and we couldn’t match them, it was crucial not to turnover the ball, but we have to get the good momentum going. It feels good to be back and a great league for bigs and guards, we are trying our best and apply what coach wants and to win the upcoming games.”