Hapoel Jerusalem defeated Bourg 86-77 as Gaby Chachashvili was absolutely unstoppable all game long to help move the Reds record to 6-2 in EuroCup action. Jordan Usher and Brandon Paul helped put the French squad out in front early on, but a spectacular showing by Chachashvili as well as Jared Harper and Khadeen Carrington gave the Reds the lead by halftime as they notched the victory.
Chachashvili scored 20 points and 11 rebounds, Harper scored 18 points and dished out 9 assists while Carrington put in 14 points in the win. Usher scored 22 points ad Paul chipped in with 16 points in the loss.
“We were aggressive in the 3rd quarter defensively but we also have a very talented offensive team,” Jerusalem head coach Yonatan Alon said. “People don’t know how talented we are with guys like Noam Dovrat, Or Cornelius and Gaby Chacahshvili as well as others. We are taking it every win and every game one at a time and every win gives us more add more confidence.”

Photo credit: Hapoel Jerusalem
The game MVP Gaby Chachashvili spoke about the game and the keys to victory, “We talked at halftime that we wanted to pick up the aggressiveness on defense and get more stops. We all had a good game and we were able to really be aggressive in the second half. Every win counts and on against a great team that played well today. We are missing our Jerusalem fans and I can only imagine what it would be like if we would be playing at home.”
Hugo Benitez, Jordan Usher and Maksim Salash all helped Bourg to a lead to open up the first quarter, but Chris Johnson and Jared Harper from deep along with points from Yovel Zoosman plus a mega dunk off an inbounds pass at the end of the period gave Hapoel Jerusalem a 22-21 lead after ten minutes of play. Brandon Paul started to make an impact, Harper and Gaby Chachashvili responded, while Khadeen Carrington and Usher traded baskets, but more points from Paul plus a coast to coast basket by Usher to end the first half gave Frederic Fauthoux’s team a 41-37 advantage.

Photo credit: Hapoel Jerusalem
Johnson, Jeremy Morgan and Chachashvili all scored to begin the third quarter, Adrian Nelson countered from the outside and inside, Chachashivili and Harper were unstoppable, Usher and Yovel Zoosman traded triples, Paul tried to keep Bourg close but Or Cornelius hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to take a 63-55 lead after thirty minutes of action. Noam Dovrat, Carrington and Chachashvili found points to get the fourth quarter underway, Usher, Paul and Benitez tried to keep Bourg hanging around but Harper drained a deep 3-pointer to close out the game.
In Champions League action, Maccabi Ramat Gan fell to Bonn 80-76 after having been front for the majority of the game thanks to fine play by Amin Stevens who scored 30 points, but couldn’t hold onto the lead down the stretch as their record dropped to 1-3.
Shmulik Brenner spoke about the game that was, “This was a very painful loss, especially considering the fact that we dominated the game at a very, very difficult arena against a very good team – and that’s disappointing. We were better and we deserved to win. But in basketball you just don’t come in and play, you have to take it and at the end you have to put the ball in the basket. Going 7/34 from deep makes it very difficult to win. The very fact that we were there says a lot about us as a team. It’s a painful moment, but we’ll come out of it stronger.”
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