Hapoel Tel Aviv downed Hapoel Jerusalem 87-71 to punch their ticket to the Israel State Cup Final Four. The Tel Aviv Reds featured five players in doubles digits as they controlled the pace of the game throughout the forty minutes to move on to the semifinals which will take place on Monday February 14th at Yad Eliyahu.

After a back and forth first quarter, Danny Franco’s squad jumped ahead with strong play by J’Covan Brown, JP Tokoto and Egor Koulechov to grab a 10-point lead at halftime. James Young, Brown and Tokoto kept scoring at will over the course of the second half as they cancelled out Suleiman Braimoh and Retin Obasohan’s scoring to take the victory.

Brown led the way with 16 points and 7 assists, Tokoto added 16 points, Koulechov chipped in with 13 points while Bar Timor and James Young scored 11 points a piece. Braimoh paced Jerusalem with 18 points, Obasohan added 16 points and Jalen Adams scored 10 points in the loss.

“We came into this game and we wanted to do some tactical things,” Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Danny Franco said. “There were many minutes that we had to fight as Jerusalem battled for every point. But the guys always seemed to pull off a smart play and that kept us in good shape. We have to stay healthy and if we can then anything is possible.”

“We are in somewhat of a slump right now,” Yotam Halperin began. “I don’t want to talk about what is going on with the team as that is between us, but it’s how we came into the game. I have to go home and see how I can help the team. I know that I’ve done everything to help the team ahead of this game and sometimes it works and this time it didn’t.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv captain Bar Timor also reflected on the game, “This was a test and a big game for us. We had a goal to get to the semifinal and that’s what we did. I want to thank the fans who came here and gave us that extra push. The energy that we had here the past two games was incredible.”

JP Tokoto opened the scoring with a midrange jumper and James Young added a triple for Hapoel Tel Aviv while Suleiman Braimoh and John Egbunu scored for Hapoel Jerusalem early on in the first quarter as the game was even at 7-7 midway through the frame. J’Covan Brown put in a layup, Kaiser Gates raced down court with an elbow jam, Noam Dovrat scored an and-1 in the paint, Jalen Adams added an uncontested layup and swished a triple to give Jerusalem a 17-14 lead after ten minutes of play.

Lotan Amsalem began the second quarter by tying up the game while Bar Timor added a 3-pointer and Tokoto put in a layup to force Jerusalem coach Yotam Halperin to call timeout. Willy Workman, Retin Obasohan and Adam Ariel all scored for the Reds but Young came right back with a triple and Timor with a deuce to go up 27-23 with 6:41 left in the half.

Braimoh scored in the paint and then from beyond the arc, Brown matched him at the other end and Egor Koulechov put in his first points of the game to keep Danny Franco’s squad in front 35-30 with 4:17 remaining until halftime.

Gates and Idan Zalmanson traded buckets, Owens put in a mini-hook, Adams came back with a 3-pointer, Young did the same from the corner but Gates matched him for Jerusalem, however, Koulechov had the last word from deep as he scored a pair from long distance to give Hapoel Tel Aviv a 10-point, 50-40 lead at halftime.

Tokoto started the second half off just as he did the first with points, Obasohan nailed a 3-pointer but Young answered right back and Tokoto added a dunk to give Hapoel a 61-45 lead midway through the third quarter. Braimoh scored a pair, Dovrat hit a corner 3-ball, Obasohan scored a jumper but Koulechov nailed another triple and Brown added a deuce to keep Hapoel Tel Aviv ahead 69-60 after thirty minutes of action.

Brown dialled up long distance, Amsalem added points in the paint but Adams scored for Jerusalem, however, Hapoel Tel Aviv stayed in front 78-65 with 5:02 left in the fourth quarter. Timor split the defense to score a driving layup two times in a row down the court as Koulechov added a dunk to send Hapoel to the Final Four.