The Sports Rabbi spoke to both Hapoel Jerusalem Captain Yotam Halperin and Richard Howell about the win over Maccabi Kiryat Gat while also looking ahead to the Best of 5 Quarterfinal Series against Ironi Nahariya:

Yotam Halperin spoke about how Kiryat Gat gave Jerusalem a tough time:
“I don’t think it was an easy game as they came to play and the pressure was on us. We didn’t have a bad game but we didn’t need to get into the situation that we did. However, we won the game.”

About Nahariya:
“They are a good team with great coach and has players that really know the league. It won’t be easy and you can see that every game in this league is tough. It doesn’t matter who is playing against who, even if it’s last place against first place. This league is hard so we have to make sure that we come prepared as best as possible for each and every game.”

The MVP of the evening, Richard Howell who finished his night with a Double-Double also commented about Kiryat Gat’s effort:
“This definitely wasn’t a last place team we played tonight. I don’t think they were bad the whole year, just things fell into the wrong place at the wrong time. They came out tough tonight and competed with us, making it a tough game. 

Looking ahead to the Quarterfinal series against Nahariya:
“They play hard and Scotty Hopson is playing real good along with Tyrone Nash as well. All the pieces I think are clicking at the right time, so it’s gonna be a good series.”