Hapoel Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv 70-60 on the road at the Drive In Arena to move into first place in the Israeli Basketball Premier League with a perfect 3-0 record. Sasa Obradovic’s team dictated a low-scoring tempo and took a 34-27 lead into halftime. Hapoel Tel Aviv managed to fight back and take the lead during the fourth quarter, but Jerusalem had the final word.
The capital city reds dominated the glass, outrebounding Hapoel Tel Aviv 45-25, including a commanding 19-7 advantage on the offensive boards. The visitors also edged the Reds 19-18 in points in the paint. Both teams struggled from beyond the arc, each shooting 6/23 (26.1%), while committing 17 turnovers apiece.

Shake Milton led the way with 16 points, while Kenny Lofton and Jaleen Smith each scored 13 points in the win while Elijah Bryant scored 17, Tomer Ginat recorded 12 points and Bar Timor scored 9 points in the loss.

Jerusalem bench boss Sasa Obradović summed up the win, “The fans were our sixth man. We did a good job defensively and shut down their leading players. We held them to 60 points and found some good solutions on offense. Overall, I’m pleased. It’s always fun to beat Hapoel. We’re a new team and we’re improving with every game. We know how to communicate well and the players like each other. You can see that.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis addressed the loss, “A lot of things didn’t work the way we wanted them to. I want to thank the fans who came out to support us and I’m sorry we disappointed them. We fought, battled our way back into the game, and even took the lead at a crucial moment, but it wasn’t enough. At times, Jerusalem fought harder than we did and that’s unacceptable. There was a significant gap in rebounding, yet we still managed to take a four-point lead. At that point, they hit two three-pointers and we made two poor plays.”

The game MVP Shake Milton also reflected on the game, “Defensively, we were focused, we controlled the rebounds and we have a great crowd that helped us win. We’re trying to stay together as one unit, share the ball, get stops, and then good things will happen for us. I’m trying to be aggressive. We have big goals, but we’re taking it one step at a time.”

Nes Ziona downed Hapoel HaEmek 78-66 as five players scored in double digits to pick up their first win of the season in a game that took place up in the Gilboa region. Paris Less, Jackson Rowe and Vincent Amsellem all scored 13 points in the win while CJ Elleby scored 19 points and Niv Misgav added 16 points in the loss.