Hapoel Afula stunned Hapoel Jerusalem 84-82 as J’Covan Brown scored a layup as time wound down to hand the hosts the shocking win. After a close first half that saw the capital city reds lead 44-40, Brown turned up the offense after a subpar opening twenty minutes as the star guard worked his magic to give Ariel Beit Halachmi’s team the crucial victory.

Brown scored 25 points and added 8 assists, Sandy Cohen scored 18 points and Justyn Mutts put in 15 points in the win while Yovel Zoosman scored 15 points for Jerusalem in the loss.

The game MVP J’Covan Brown spoke about how he willed his team to the win, “Just trying to be great. Lately we haven’t found a way to win games, it’s been a while. It’s about just having a heart and fight, I knew when we had a last ball that it’s all about me. Everyone knows you love these moments. I carry my teammates on my back no matter what, I always want the shot, miss or make. The coach made a great play, ‘give JB the ball and let him do what he wants to do’.

“Just frustrated about not winning, I want to help. Today was special, we showed some character for the Afula city. Every time I see coach Yonchuk (Jerusalem’s Yonatan Alon) it’s always extra motivation, I love that guy, he always motivated me to keep pushing no matter what I go through in life. We’ll look at ourselves in the mirror, it’s all about having a heart and trusting the process. I always had confidence. Shabbat Shalom.”

“We’re at the bottom and it’s not just that we’re there, but the point today was to come in and play tough, not give up and survive,” Beit Halachmi said. “There was a period at the beginning of the season when we were really good and we need to get back to that. The whole team came out different today, we were much more focused. At the end of the day, when it’s a close game and there’s a player of J’Covan’s caliber who is one of the biggest winners here in Israel, the game goes your way.”

“He was excellent and won the game,” Jerusalem head coach Yonatan Alon said of J’Covan Brown’s winning basket. “Unfortunately we turned this into one-possession game. There was a lack of concentration, all kinds of turnovers and we need to improve that. I tried to find the team that would run beat and give me confidence. I think we were complacent, it’s on us, we didn’t do the job. This loss really hurts us, we could lose home court advantage because of it.”