Hapoel Jerusalem tipoff against Pinar Karsiyaka on Monday night at 7pm in Turkey as the Reds Champions League season is on the line. Yotam Halperin’s squad will need to record a victory on foreign soil in order to keep their continental hopes alive as they enter the contest with a record of 1-3 and their backs against the wall.

Jerusalem, who began their European campaign with an 0-3 record defeated STAL Ostrow at home but could not cover the point differential from their first encounter now face 2-2 Karsiyaka with their backs against the wall with only a win keeping them alive.

One new/old face for the Capital City crew will be that of Suleiman Braimoh who rejoined the club just a week ago after having begun the season with San Pablo Burgos, the competition’s 2x defending champion. However, after a subpar start to their season, the Spanish side decided to begin making wholesale changes to their roster which included Braimoh coming back to Jerusalem where he had spent the last two years.

The Nigerian born Braimoh attended Rice University and has plied his trade in numerous countries upon graduating back in 2011, including France, Russia, Germany and Israel where he began his time in the Holy Land with Hapoel Eilat in the 2018/19 season.

The forward played an integral part during his two years with Hapoel Jerusalem under the tutelage of Oded Katash and was the only import that management considered keeping at the end of last season. However, new head coach Oren Amiel wanted a clean slate and the club decided to part ways with one of the most popular players in recent time.

But now Baimoh is back and ready to go as he will look to lead the team to victory at Karsiyaka, “We are improving every day and everyone is doing the maximum as we are focused on going there to win the game. This is an opportunity to position ourselves to move forward. We need to focus on ourselves and if we can continue to work on ourselves then we will be ok.”

Halperin also spoke about the importance of having Braimoh back in the saddle, “Su is Su. There are no surprises and we knew what we were getting. He still needs some time to get into shape and our game play, but I am not really concerned about him.”

However, Karsiyaka are no slouches and feature a top notch roster with the likes of reining MVP Bonzie Colson, Euroleague veterans Michael Roll and Alex Tyus along with Amath M’Baye, Tony Taylor, James Blackmon and NBA veteran Semih Erden. This is not a team of pushovers that coach Ufuk Sarica has at his disposal, but it is also a club that needed a game winning shot by Colson to beat Jerusalem earlier in the season.

Big man Itay Segev talked about Braimoh’s importance to the club going forward, “What can you say? He did some great things in the league and with Hapoel Jerusalem and from his first practice you can see exactly why. He is really someone that you can learn from and it’s just great to play with him. I believe that with Su here we can do some great things.”

While Su isn’t going to be the reason that Jerusalem will either stay alive or be eliminated from the Champions League, he will most definitely give them a fighting chance to be the best version of themselves.