Hapoel Jerusalem slipped by Hapoel Beer Sheva 74-69 to punch their ticket to the Israel State Cup final where they will await the winner of the second semifinal between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Kiryat Ata.

The capital city reds were able to build up a 62-50 lead by the end of the third quarter as Khadeen Carrington paced Yonatan Alon’s team but big baskets downs the stretch by JaKeenan Gant and Grant Sherfield gave the southerners a slim 68-67 advantage with just over a minute to play. However, Levi Randolph with clutch free throws and Yovel Zoosman drilled home a 3-pointer was time wound down to seal the deal and take the win.

Carrington scored 16 points, Randolph added 13 points and Alex Tyus scored 11 points in the victory. Gant and Sherfield each scored 16 points in the defeat.

“We never thought that this would be an easy game,” Jerusalem bench boss Yonatan Alon said. “Beer Sheva is a tough team as the game developed I played the guys that I felt could help us at that certain moment and it looked like it worked out. We had to deal with the pressure and we are playing well enough to win over the last while.”

“We defended very well in the a second half and I don’t think there was a foul on Randolph,” Beer Sheva Head Coach Oren Ahaorni said.” We missed a shot at the end and they scored, but I’m proud of the guys and the way they played in this game.”

Alex Tyus reflected on the victory, “The fans helped us with this win. The game was tough Beer Sheva has a very good team and we did a good job keeping is under control after they made a big run. It feels great coming back to Israel and I was hoping I’d be able to finish my career here that was always a goal. I know the system and it’s great to compete with Jerusalem for titles.”

Grant Sherfield spoke about the game from his point of view, “It was a hard fought game and everyone on our side gave everything we had. It came down to the last couple of possessions, we had some mishaps and they hit their shots.”

Nimrod Levi and Yovel Zoosman scored for Hapoel Jerusalem while Kris Bankston put in a trio of buckets for Hapoel Beer Sheva to get the game off and running, Grant Sherfield and Chris Johnson traded baskets, Or Cornelius put in a 3-point play, Khadeen Carrington went from deep while Johnson put in a deuce to give the capital city reds a 21-11 lead after ten minutes of play.

JaKeenan Gant began the second quarter with a pair of baskets, Gilad Levy and JaCorey Williams traded buckets on the inside while Yovel Zoosman and Sherfield did the same from the outside, Neta Segal went from deep, Noam Dovrat from the outside as did Speedy Smith but Mike Lewis also dialled up long distance to pull to within 41-37 at halftime.

Levi Randolph hit a jumper in the paint to start off the third quarter, Gant came back with a 3-point play, Johnson and Alex Tyus scored, Carrington went for a pair from deep while Tyus added another bucket to give Yonatan Aron’s team a 62-50 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Lewis and Gant scored to get the fourth quarter underway, Randolph and Sherfield traded baskets, Gant hit a turnaround jumper, Joaquin Szuchman scored and Sherfield went from long distance while Bankston blocked Williams and Szuchman put back a pair of points to put Beer Sheva ahead 68-67 with 1:06 remaining in regulation time.

Randolph was fouled was Szuchman on a tight call as the Jerusalem forward hit his shots from the line and Zoosman went from deep to comeback and take the 74-69 win to advance to the Finals of the Israel State Cup.