CHAMPS! Hapoel Jerusalem takes Israel Basketball Title!

In front of over 11,000 rabid fans, Hapoel Jerusalem finally won their first ever Israel Basketball League title defeating Hapoel Eilat in the second match of a two game total points series 88-68.

After a very close first half in which Eilat took an 8-point lead to the dressing room 44-36, the Reds quality came to the forefront for the final 20 minutes of the basketball season when star Donta Smith took over and ended his evening with 20-points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. The MVP of the Finals, Bracey Wright contributed 20-points in the effort while Tony Gaffney and Lior Eliyahu also finished in double digits.

For Eilat who played without injured Kevin Palmer, Adrian Uter completed a double-double with 17 points and 11 boards and Khalif Wyatt along with Amot Shimchon scored 12-points a piece. Eilat had a miserable night from three-point land going 3/20 and that pretty much all she wrote for Danny Franco and his Jerusalem team who celebratd into the night at Safra Square.

Sign up for our newsletter

2 Comments

  1. richard retter

    why was the Israel basketball a best of 3 when the semi is a best of 5?

    • Josh Halickman

      That’s an excellent question. The league has been trying to find a formula for the finals that would make it possible for a smaller team to defeat the larger clubs. but in doing so they have been met with a lot of resistance from the smaller sides and the final was actually a 2 game total points winner take all and not even a best of 3!

You may also like…

Newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates. 

You have Successfully Subscribed!