Hapoel Jerusalem crushed Hapoel Holon 91-66 as Jared Harper was unstoppable to help the reds improve their Israeli league record to 3-1. Yonatan Alon’s team jumped out to a 52-27 halftime lead thanks to terrific play from Harper along with Justin Smith and Khadeen Carrington as they cruised from there in the second half to notch the victory.

Harper scored 22 points, Carrington added 17 points as Justin Smith and Chris Johnson each had 14 points in the win. Marcus Bingham scored 21 points and Jalen Adams had 17 points in the loss.

“It wasn’t an easy game to beat Holon by 25 points, it is actually very tough,” Jerusalem head coach Yonatan Alon said. “Without center Austin Wiley we had to make some adjustments and we didn’t really have a choice but to play small ball. If Wiley will be out we will be in the market for a a player to replace him. As for having Khadeen Carrington back you can see what he brings to the table every game for us.”

“This was a very hard game to watch and it was awful,” Holon head coach Guy Goodes began. “The second quarter was a disaster and we have a lot of work to do especially on the mental side of things and with those who manage the game on the court. Once we were down the score just snowballed. On one hand we don’t want to remember this game but we also need to not forget it either.”

The MVP Jared Harper reflected on the win, “It was a good overall game for us on both sides of the ball and hopefully we will keep progressing the right way. Our defense is our identity and it starts with that. We did a good job being able to run the floor and create good energy as well.”

Idan Zalmanson looked back on the loss, “There’s not much to say as we weren’t here with our energy, and our pride. This can’t happen for the club and for the fans. We have to play with more pride and we have to learn from this. The game got out of hand in the second quarter and it snowballed from there.”

Justin Smith filled the basket for Hapoel Jerusalem, Idan Zalmanson and Jalen Adams countered for Hapoel Holon but Jared Harper and Khadeen Carrington scored for the hosts to give the reds a 24-19 lead after ten minutes of play. Harper went from deep and then added a dunk, Smith and Carrington scored as Bingham and Adams responded but Smith, Carrington, Harper, Yovel Zoosman and Chris Johnson put in points with ease to take a 52-27 advantage.

Justin Smith started off the third quarter with a dunk while Speedy Smith went from downtown, Niv Misgav, Adams and Bingham came back with points, Zoosman dialled up long distance and Speedy Smith went from the inside and outside to keep Jerusalem in front 73-46 after thirty minutes of action. Elijah Mitrou-Long got his first points of the game from deep for Holon, Harper kept finding points for the reds as did Carrington and Johnson to take the win.

Maccabi Tel Aviv just slipped by Elitzur Netanya 76-72 as Rokas Jokubaitis returned to action with 19 points to help lead the yellow-and-blue to the victory. Jokubaitis who had been out with a thumb injury paced Oded Katash’s team together with Rafi Menco, Roman Sorkin, Jaylen and John Dibartolomeo to take a 49-33 lead at halftime. But the newly promoted club led by Ilay Dolinski, Carlos Marshall and Eric Romero pulled to within a pair of points late in the game as Dibartolomeo’s two free throws as time wound down sealed the deal for the yellow-and-blue.

Jokubaitis scored 19 points, Sorkin added 11 points while Menco, Hoard and Jasiel Rivero all had 10 points in the win. Dolinski scored 15 points as Marshall and Romero each had 14 points in the loss.

“We knew that due to our situation this game wouldn’t be easy,” Maccabi head coach Oded Katash began. “We actually took a significant lead in a half that we didn’t play our best basketball. In fact, it was the third quarter that we played better but it’s true that we weren’t able to score. We are trying to look at the way we are playing and not in essence the result.”

Rokas Jokubaitis spoke about the victory, “Tough win, tough times for our team with the injuries and schedule but we have the win and now we need to take a bit of a rest before the Euroleague Double Week. I’m happy to be back.”