Hapoel Jerusalem just got by a game Hapoel Afula 80-78 as Jared Harper starred for the reds to head into the international break with a 5-1 record. Yonatan Alon’s team got off to a hot start with Harper and Jeremy Morgan and Derek Ogbeide controlling the pace of play but Jalen Lecque and Armaan Franklin kept the game close, however, a pair of late triples by Harper kept the visitors at bay as Jerusalem snatched the win.

Harper scored 28 points while Morgan and Ogbeide each scored 10 points in the win. Franklin scored 24 points and Lecque added 22 points in the loss.

“I think that at some point we failed to put the ball into the basket,” Jerusalem head coach Yonatan Alon said. “We got stuck and lost a little confidence and the flow to the game. We tried to force some things and we tired at some point but that’s not an excuse.”

“This was a game that we should have won,” Afula head coach Ariel Beit Halachmi began. “I feel that way and my heart is with the players because they really gave everything. We were able to tune the game around at the exactly right time but we came up” short due to or pwn miscues and part of that is because we have young guys who haven’t experienced many close games.”

The game MVP Jared Harper spoke about the contest, “This was a tough game and a tough win. Every time we win a game it’s good, I feel like we did good things. I have to give credit to my teammates and my coaches for putting me in a position to be able to do what I did in this game. I’ve spent a lot of time working on my game and it’s thanks to that. There are ups and downs, but we have grown as a team.”

Gilad Levy looked back on the game, “We played well and we were able to keep up with their pace. We were there the entire game.”

Bnei Herzliya defeated Elitzur Netanya 85-80 as Jimmy Clark, Ethan Burg and Xavier Sneed were able to overcome a tremendous 28-point performance by Bryce Washington to notch the win.