Hapoel Holon downed JDA Dijon 90-83 thanks to stellar performances by Adam Smith and Michale Kyser to advance to the Champions League Top 8 playoffs. Guy Goodes’s team which finished in first place in Group I of the Round of 16 will find out who they play in the best of three quarterfinal series in which they will have home court advantage at a draw that will be held on Friday in Bilbao, Spain the site of the competition’s Final Four in May. Holon will face one of the three second place finishers from the other groups which include Malaga (Spain), Strasbourg (France) and Tofas Bursa (Turkey) beginning on April 5-6th.

Dijon jumped out to a big 16-2 lead on the strength of long distance shooting from Khadeen Carrington but Adam Smith came off the bench for Holon to begin cutting into the lead along with Michale Kyser and Joe Ragland as Guy Goodes’s squad pulled to within just 3-points, 47-44 by half-time. In the second half, Holon began swarming on defense as Goodes went with a smaller and quicker lineup with three guards while Chris Johnson along with Frederic Bourdillon clamped down on Dijon allowing Smith and Kyser the opportunity to pull ahead 72-68 at the end of the third quarter and run off with the win.

Smith led all scorers with 29 points, Kyser added 26 points while Johnson chipped in with 16 points and Ragland scored 13 points in the win. Carrington paced Dijon with 17 points, Rashard Kelly added 16 points and Gavin Ware scored 12 points in the defeat.

“I want to congratulate the team, the club, the fans and the city,” Goodes began following the game. “We call it March madness as every game has a meaning and we can’t take it easy and save power. We started slow and I don’t know why, but we have character and came back from a big deficit with the fans and their energy. Step by step, we played tough defense and I am happy how we played today and advanced to the Top 8.”

“I want to congratulate Holon,” Dijon’s coach Nenad Markovic said. “They started slow but picked up shape and played much better. McGee helped them a lot and Adam Smith raised his game to another level. We played a good first half and lost our momentum at the end of the 2nd quarter to come back to just 3-points and we let Smith shoot too many shots and he got to positions very easily.”

The game MVP Adam Smith reflected on the victory, “We got off to a slow start and we brought the fight. We have a group of hungry guys and you can tell we wanted the game. It’s a do or die game and all of our guys brought their “A” game.”

Khadeen Carrington spoke about the game form his points go view, “We started well and we locked in as the game went on but we made a lot of mistakes on defense. It’s a game of runs and we knew that they wouldn’t stop playing and give up when we took an early lead.”

Khadeen Carrington opened the game in with a trio of triples for Dijon while Rashard Kelly and David Holston also went from deep to give the visitors a 16-2 lead midway through the first quarter. Gavin Ware hit a jumper, Hapoel Holon’s Adam Smith responded with a pair of baskets, Tyrus McGee went from deep as did Smith to pull to within 24-15 after ten minutes of play.

Ware and Smith each scored to begin the second quarter, Terrell Gomez went from downtown, Smith hit a pair from beyond the arc but Kelly scored as well to keep Dijon in front 39-27 with 5:13 left in the first half. Kyser put in a deuce, Chris Johnson hit a comer 3-ball, Abdoulaye Loum scored a pair of buckets, Joe Ragland dialled up long distance and added a layup and Michale Kyser dunked to pull Guy Goodes’s squad to within 3-points, 47-44 at halftime.

Kyser and Carrington traded buckets to get the third quarter underway, while the latter added another triple but Smith went from deep as well for a pair of triples to give Holon a 57-52 lead midway through the period. Johnson scored a pair of layups, Ware responded, Ragland scored as well, Holston, Chase Simon and Robin Ducote came back from downtown but Holon move ahead 72-68 by the end of thirty minutes of action.

Ragland and Holston kept the end to end pace up with baskets to begin the fourth quarter, Johnson went from the corner and Kyser dunked, Kelley answered from beyond the arc but Johnson added another basket to keep Holon in front 81-73 with 5:48 remaining in regulation time. Kyser put in points as did Smith wrap up the victory and advance to the Champions League Top 8.