Hapoel Jerusalem crushed Reyer Venezia 92-66 to move into first place in EuroCup regular season play with a 5-2 record. The Reds who were playing with a very short roster due to injuries saw Noam Dovrat manage the point like a consummate professional throughout the 40 minutes, as five players finished in double digits.

Noam Dovrat, who was thrust into a starting position for Hapoel Jerusalem, scored at will in the first quarter while Khadeen Carrington and Or Cornelius also found points for the Reds as they were able to take a 24-20 lead and keep their opener at bay despite Kyle Wiltjer already notching double digits in points. Dovrat, Carrington and Cornelius continued to score while Wiltjer did the same at the other end but with very little help as Yonatan Alon’s team bumped up their lead to 47-27 by halftime.

Dovrat continued to dominate, McGruder and Jordan Parks responded but more points from Jeremy Morgan and Yovel Zoosman kept Jerusalem in front 69-51 after thirty minutes while triples from Zoosman, Morgan and Carrington sealed the 26-point win.

Dovrat scored 17 points, Carrington added Carrington added 16 points while Cornelius scored 14 points in the win. Wiltjer scored 18 points while Parks added 15 points in the loss.

“I am very happy,” Alon said after the game, “I told the guys before the game there is too much taking about the guys who are not here and we have to focus on the guys that are here, They pushed each other and they were amazing. It’s early but we are going on the right way. We have unearth game in israel and we have to pick up some players before we look at next week’s game.”

Jeremy Morgan, “It was a good team effort and we needed everyone, we were short on players but this game showed our character as er played a good game. We have to just be us, pressure the ball, play under control and play smart.”