Hapoel Jerusalem used suffocating defense to notch a 74-57 win over Hapoel Haifa by the Carmel Mountain. Aleksandar Dzikic’s squad came out to put the clamps on Haifa’s star Anthony Hickey and they did just that as Speedy Smith neutralized the guard to hold him to zero points on the game as Levi Randolph lead five capital city Reds players in double digits to take the victory.

Kadeem Allen and Jalen Jones helped get the Carmel Reds off to a good start but Zach Hankins’s inside presence and Randolph’s sharp shooting helped Dzikic’s squad to a 36-29 lead at halftime. Jones kept finding the basket to cut the lead to just 4-points, 56-52 at the end of the third quarter, but Haifa was only able to muster 5 points in the final frame as Jerusalem’s suffocating defense did the job to notch the victory.

The win was Jerusalem’s fourth in a row across all competitions while Sharon Drucker’s club may have been a bit fatigued after their sensational Europe Cup victory over Gaziantep in Turkey last week and that perhaps took a toll on the team.

Randolph paced Jerusalem with 18 points, Noam Dovrat added 14 points while Smith checked in with 12 points in the win. Jalen Jones was Haifa’s top score with 18 points and Kadeem Allen added 17 points in the loss.

“It’s always good to win and this was our biggest margin this season,” Jerusalem coach Dzikic said. “In some parts of the game we were really good but we had some weak moments as well. But we kept the energy at a high level after the game we had in Denmark. I am happy that we go into the break with a win and not a loss. It’s good to send my guys to a break with a win.”

“A lot of things didn’t work for us,” Haifa coach Drucker said. “We missed many layups and we didn’t get into a rhythm. Once we started scoring in the third quarter we thought we were in the game, but we missed a lot of shots down the stretch and didn’t do a lot of little things well. The team may be a bit tired.”

Speedy Smith also looked back at the game, “I think it was a total team effort. Or Cornelius was a bit down today so we all had to step it up and we did a great job defensively. I think coming together as a team takes time as we have a lot of new guys but the coach is great with his patience and expects perfection from us.”

Kadeem Allen opened the game with a corner 3-ball and Jalen Jones found points inside for Hapoel Haifa while Levi Randolph went from the outside and inside as Hapoel Jerusalem lead 7-6 midway through the period. Jones scored off the break, Allen nailed another triple, Speedy Smith, Zach Hankins and Mareks Mejeris responded as the Capital City Reds grabbed a slim 17-16 lead after ten minutes of play.

Itay Segev dunked to get the second quarter underway, Devonte Upson scored a pair at the other end, Smith answered with a triple and Khadeen Carrington scored as well to keep Aleksandar Dzikic’s team in front 24-22 with five minutes remaining in the first half. Noam Dovrat went from deep, Randolph scored off the break, Amit Simhon went from downtown and Upson scored a deuce for Sharon Drucker’s team, but Hankins answered with a pair of buckets in the paint to keep Jerusalem in the lead 36-29.

Simhon and Jones began the third quarter with a triples, Anthony Hickey handed off the ball for a Jones dunk, Mejeris Randolph and Smith scored as Jerusalem continued to lead 44-37 midway through the frame. Simhon went for a deuce, Allen scored a 3-point play, Smith hit a jumper, Allen out in an acrobatic layup, Randolph came back with a pair of buckets but so did Jones to cut the lead to 56-52 after thirty minutes of action.

Majeris found points inside to start off the fourth quarter, Simhon dialled up long distance as Hankins scored in the paint to keep Jerusalem ahead 65-55 with 5:22 remaining in regulation time. Dovrat nailed a 3-pointer, Smith chalked up a jumper and Mejeris added a dunk as Jerusalem wrapped up the double-figure win.

Maccabi Tel Aviv sunk Hapoel Eilat 96-74 down by the Red Sea city as the yellow-and-blue overwhelmed the hosts to record the easy win to remain perfect in Israeli league play. Jake Cohen lead the way with 14 points, Alex Poythress scored 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds while Rafi Menco also added 11 points in the win. Netanel Artzi with 23 points and Eric Griffin with 22 points paced Eilat.

“First off I am very happy that we were able to split the minutes up and many not the players who don’t play much had a chance to in this game,” Maccabi coach Oded Katash said. “But that is the difference between the Euroleague and the Israeli League in terms of the squad a pace of the game.”

“It’s not a very good feeling,” Eilat bench boss Ariel Beit Halachmi said. “I think we had a very bad game in terms of focus and the small details as I was expecting a lot more fight from the players. The players are getting a huge chance and are not taking it. I am very disappointed and I am not even referring to the result.”

Rafi Menco spoke about the game from his point of view, “The first half we didn’t play that well despite scoring, but the second half we really followed the instructions and did what we needed to.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv hung on to defeat a game Hapoel Gilboa Galil 86-81 after having lead 41-29 at halftime. J’Covan Brown paced the Reds with 21 points and 6 assists, JP Tokoto continued his fine play of late with another stellar performance as the forward scored 14 points while Jaylen Hoard and Tomer Ginat each scored 12 points in the win. Justin Gorham and Payton Willis each scored 20 points and Rashard Holmes added 18 points in the defeat.

The game MVP J’Covan Brown spoke about the contest, “We knew they were coming in to be a grinding team but the game starts with me. I wasn’t in rhythm and I missed a lot of practices this past week but I wanted to come out here and help my teammates. We have 2-3 weeks until the next game and I will be coming back from the break ready to go.”