Hapoel Jerusalem escaped with a 77-74 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in overtime as Justin Smith’s alley-oop to tie the game up as regulation time expired sent the game into the extra session where Jared Harper starred to knot the finals up at 1-1 and send the series back to Yad Eliyahu for a decisive third game.

Roman Sorkin and Tamir Blatt got Maccabi Tel Aviv off and running early on and built up a double digit lead, but Jared Harper, Khadeen Carrington and Yovel Zoosman closed the gap to 35-30 at halftime. Rokas Jokubaitis scored for the visitors while Carrington and Justin Smith countered for the hosts, Harper put the reds in front but Jokubaitis helped Maccabi retake the lead with less than two seconds on the clock, however, an alleyoop pass from Roi Huber to Smith sent the game into overtime tied at 66-66. Harper nailed a pair of triples and added a deuce as the league MVP took over in the extra session to force a third game back in Tel Aviv.

Harper scored 26 points, Smith added 20 points and Carrington chipped in with 15 points in the win. Jokubaitis scored 23 points, Sorkin added 21 points and Blatt put in 10 points in the loss.

“This is what we worked on since Sunday and we want to win the championship,” Hapoel Jerusalem Head Coach Yonatan Alon said. “This was a character win and that’s all it was as we have to now take the title. There was a chance we would go for a 3-pointer but we needed to get two points and we drew up a good play to tie the game up which we did. The guys are full of confidence going into the final game.”

“It’s a tough feeling when you are winning with 1.8 seconds left,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash began. “We thought maybe they would go for a 3 to win the game. It was a very aggressive game and there were times we played well but the number that was key is that they scored 28 points on the offensive rebound which is a crazy number. We wanted to win and now the mental aspect comes into play as we have to pick the guys up and get ready for game three. We played all season for home court advantage and while it’s no guarantee we will have our fans for the last game.”

Khadeen Carrington reflected on the win, “I said last week that game three at Hapoel Tel Aviv was the craziest game but this one took the cake. Everybody was pretty calm going into the play and I tried to get a good screen for Justin Smith and it was a great play that was drawn up. We ever felt that we were down and although my shots haven’t fallen I just said to the guys we just have to find a way to win. Staying grounded is key, Maccabi is a great team and we can’t get too high and we can’t get too low, we didn’t do that in game one and we got to stay focused going into game three.

A disappointed Levi Randolph spoke about the game, “They drew up a good play and scored to tie it up. Basketball is a game of runs, they are a good team and we have to go back to the drawing board and improve. We got to play basketball and do what we can to help the team win. We got to watch film and get ready for it.”

Jared Harper put in points for Hapoel Jerusalem and Rokas Jokubaitis did the same for Maccabi Tel Aviv to open the game, Roman Sorkin went from deep, Tamir Blatt put in a layup, Justin Smith countered, Chris Johnson dialled up long distance, Trevion Williams dunked while John Dibartolomeo went from downtown to give the yellow-and-blue a 17-9 lead after ten minutes of play.

Smith dunked and Blatt went from deep to begin the second quarter, Sorkin put in a layup, Chris Johnson cleaned up a miss, Sorkin went from downtown, Khadeen Carrington and Yovel Zoosman each scored a layup, Blatt and Sorkin both went from deep once again as Maccabi took a 31-21 lead midway through the period. Jokubaitis sent Sorkin an alley-oop, Roi Huber came back with points and so did Zoosman, while Harper went from beyond the arc as the reds cut the lead to 35-30 at halftime.

Jokubaitis scored to get the third quarter off and running, Harper went from deep and Carrington scored in bunches, Levi Randolph scored off the glass, Jokubaitis went from downtown, Smith scored a trio of baskets inside but Jimmy Clark put in an acrobatic layup to keep Oded Katash’s squad ahead 49-48 after thirty minutes of action.

Blatt drove to the hoop for a deuce to start the fourth quarter, Sorkin put in a 3-point play, Smith scored inside, Randolph knocked down a corner 2-ball and added a dunk, Harper put in a layup and drained a triple, Jokubaitis hit a midrange jumper, went in for a dunk and then nailed another jumper in the lane as Smith put in an alley-oop off an inbounds pass from Huber to send the game into overtime knotted up at 66-66.

Harper scored off the glass to begin the extra session, Smith dunked, Randolph came back with points, Harper went from downtown, Jokubaitis hit a jumper and added a 3-point play, Harper drilled home another 3-pointer as Jerusalem held on to take the win and force game three.