Hapoel Jerusalem crushed Prometey 95-70 in a game that was never that close to open up their Champions League Play In best of 3 series with a victory. The Reds came out shooting lights out and went 9/10 from 3-point range to grab a 40-16 lead after the minutes and never looked back as Jalen Adams, Adam Ariel and Retin Obasohan set the tone early to cruise to the blowout win. Game two will take place next Tuesday in the Ukraine as Jerusalem head coach Yotam Halperin’s team will look to close out the series and punch their ticket to the Round of 16 group stage.

Ariel led all scorers with 24 points going 6/8 from long distance, Retin Obasohan added 19 points and Jalen Adams scored 18 points hitting 4 of 5 from deep in the win. Illya Sydorov scored 15 points, Oleksandr Lypovyy chipped in with 14 points and D’Angelo Harrison scored 13 points in the loss.

“This was a very good game and we had to stay aggressive until the end,” Halperin said following the win. “When the shots go in it helps too, but we are only up 1-0 in the series. We have seen a lot over the course of our careers and after a game like this you have to come into the next game really prepared and not complacent to make sure you are ready to go.”

“The game was decided after five minutes and we didn’t complete today,” Prometey coach Ronen Neno Ginzburg. “This was our worst game and mine as a coach. I know why it happened and I believe we will be better next game.”

Adam Ariel who was named the game’s most valuable player spoke about the win, “We came out with high energy and lots of intensity. When you do that, then it all falls in place and it gives you a lot of confidence. But this is a series and we have to come out like this next week.”

Jalen Adams and Kaiser Gates began the game with triples to put Hapoel Jerusalem on the board very early on, D’Angelo Harrison drilled one home from Prometey when he was left unattended at the elbow but points by Suleiman Braimoh, another 3-pointer by Adams and one from Retin Obasohan gave Yotam Halperin’s squad a quick 14-3 led midway through the first quarter.

Adams dialled up long distance for his third score from deep, Braimoh put points inside, but Illya Sydorov and Viacheslav Petrov countered, however, a corner 3-ball from Willy Workman, a dunk by Obasohan and a trio of triples by Adam Ariel put the lead up to 40-16 after ten minutes of action.

Noam Dovrat got into the act with a 3-pointer of his own to get the second quarter off and running, Adams went from downtown yet again but Harrison and Sydorov began heating up for Ronen “Neno” Ginsburg’s team but were in a 49-26 hole with 6:32 left until halftime. Ariel couldn’t miss from range, Adams scored a driving layup, Harrison, DJ Stephens and Sydorov answered at the other end but the Reds headed into halftime holding a 62-40 lead.

Itay Segev got the third quarter underway as he finished off a nice team play in the paint, Obasohan drilled home a 3-pointer and Braimoh gracefully scored inside to bump up the lead to 69-40 midway through the frame. Obasohan and Dovrat went from beyond the arc, Chris Dowe and Miro Bilan found points for Prometey but Jerusalem led 78-47 after thirty minutes of play.

Ariel scored at will to begin the fourth quarter Braimoh added points while the visitors cleared their bench in garbage time galore as Oleksandr Lypovyy scored in bunches but it was too little too late with Jerusalem cruising to the 25-point win.