Hapoel Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv 93-83 as Jared Harper starred in the victory to advance to the Israel State Cup semifinals. Antonio Blakeney, Vasilije Micic and Dan Oturu helped Hapoel Tel Aviv grab a 22-21 lead after the opening quarter but Jared Harper, Khadeen Carrington and Cassius Winston ripped off a 10-0 run to end the quarter that gave Hapoel Jerusalem the upper hand, 44-42 at halftime.

Tomer Ginat, Ish Wainright and Micic helped Dimitrios Itoudis’s team open up a 7-point lead, but Justin Smith started to score in bunches while Winston also found points to stay in front 66-60 after thirty minutes. Harper began the final frame on fire, Blakeney and Oturu tried to keep Hapoel Tel Aviv close, but Carringron and Winston continued to fill the basket, while Austin Wiley scored as well to close out the game.

Harper scored 24 points, Winston added 18 points and Smith put in 15 points in the win while Blakeney scored 22 points, Otutu scored 16 points and Micic chipped in with 14 points in the loss.

Hapoel Jerusalem Head Coach Yonatan Alon spoke about the win, “It’s great town and it;’s so much fun to play in these types of games. I reeky like my players, the way they play and how they react on both sides of the court. We did what we needed to after a tough period of time and they did the job that needed to be done. This win is a total team victory from the players to the entire staff and management.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv Head Coach Dimitrios Itoudis discussed the defeat, “Congrats to Jerusalem, this was another target we can’t chase but we have two more targets that are very important. We managed to have a lead but lost the margins very quickly. I need to study the game, in such a close game free throws are a huge disparity between the teams, a 22 free throws difference is huge. We need to win and now we have to move on as we have two very good targets.”

MVP Jared Harper shared his thoughts on the victory, “I feel like we have the best fans in Israel and they push us in games like this. We had a great team game and we took the win. I am very comfortable in money time and I am thankful to my teammates like Yovel Zoosman who may have just had 3 points but did so many things to help as did Cassius Winston and Khadeen Carrrigton. I live for this big games where I can show what type of player I am. We want to be at the Euroleague level and play tough games at the top of Europe.”