Hapoel Jerusalem crashed out of Europe after falling to Karsiyaka 98-87 while Peristeri topped Tenerife 90-82 to eliminate the Reds who lost three straight in Basketball Champions League Round of 16 Group Stage action.

Ilias Kantzouris’s club fell behind early going down 30-19 after the first quarter as Errick McCollum starred all game long while Jaylon Brown, Vitto Brown and Vernon Carey helped put the hosts in front, but Khadeen Carrington, Zach Hankins and Speedy Smith cut the lead down to 47-46 by halftime. Ufuk Sarica’s club continued to stay in front with scoring from Kalen Martin and Jaylon Brown as Hankins tried to keep Jerusalem in the game, however, McCollum got red hot in the final frame to go along with points from Carey and Vitto Brown to close out the victory.

Hankins scored 18 points, Carrington added 14 points and Smith scored 13 points in the loss. McCollum scored 20 points, Carey chipped in with 17 points, Jaylon Brown scored 16 points and Vitto Brown put in 15 points in the win.

“We can find a lot excuses, but I don’t like excuses,” Hapoel Jerusalem coach Ilias Kantzouris said. “We came into a do or die game where we received 98 points, so basically it’s our fault. Congratulations to teams that went through and for sure this is a hard night for us and we have to look into our values, this to me is the first thing.”

“We played against a tough team,” Karsiyaka coach Ufuk Sarica said. “We had no pressure while they played under pressure in the second half and they made too many mistakes. we played very well on offense and we had some problems before the game but we were able to play together.”

Speedy Smith spoke about being eliminated from continental play, “They played very well in the first and fourth quarters we had some defensive downfalls. This year in general was pretty tough for us. Through the months we were probably home five days of the month, had to fly every week so it has been tough for us. We leave no excuses, we fell short of our goals and we look forward to the rest of our year.”

Vernon Carey and Kelan Martin got busy for Karsiyaka to begin the game while Zach Hankins scored inside for Hapoel Jerusalem, Vitto Brown and Jaylon Brown came back with points for the hosts, Or Cornelius and Speedy Smith went from deep but Errick McCollum from the inside and outside gave the hosts a 30-19 lead after ten minutes of play.

Brynton Lemar went from downtown to get the second quarter underway, Yovel Zoosman went in for a layup, Khadeen Carrington dialed up long distance while Vitto Brown returned the favor while Smith also went from deep but Karsiyaka stayed in front 36-32 with 5:46 remaining in the first half. Jaylon Brown pulled up for a triple, Smith and Chris Johnson came back with points, Carey made a nifty move in the paint and added another deuce, Smith kept cutting down the lead while a 3-pointer by Carrington pulled the Reds to within 47-46 at halftime.

Kenan Sipahi and Martin led off the third quarter with points, JaCorey Williams and Hankins scored in the paint, Martin and Hankins traded buckets, Johnson sped through the defense for a layup, Jaylon Brown and Deniz Kilici scored but Oz Blayzer nailed a 3-pointer to stay within reach of Ufuk Sara’s club who continue to lead 68-65 after thirty minutes of action.

McCollum hit free throws and drilled home a triple to begin the fourth quarter, Hankins tried to keep Ilias Kantzouris’s team hanging around but McCollum went from deep yet again, Carey scored as well, Carrington dialed up long distance and Hankins found points but Karsiyaka continued to lead 82-75 with five minutes remaining in regulation time. Carey scored a pair of layups, McCollum went from deep, Vitto Brown dropped a deuce and triple and McCollum hit his free throws to wrap up the win.