Hapoel Jerusalem stunned Maccabi Tel Aviv 80-75 as Speedy Smith continued his fine play along with Khadeen Carrington while the Reds controlled the pace of play all game long to take the well earned win. The victory extended Jerusalem’s league winning streak to five in a row and six overall as the Yellow & Blue dropped their first domestic game of the season.
Aleksandar Dzikic’s squad came out strong from the get go with Speedy Smith leading the way but points from Wade Baldwin and Guy Pnini kept Maccabi close, however, the Reds stayed in front 35-33 at halftime. Or Cornelius and Siim Sander Vene hit their shots from deep in the third quarter and every time Oded Katash’s team made a run with Jarell Martin going from downtown, Khadeen Carrington was there to match him shot for shot. But it was Noam Dovrat who finished off the game when he nailed a step back triple to seal the deal and send the capital city side to the win.

Khadeen Carrington – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman
Carrington led all scorers with 20 points, Smith scored 14 points, dished out 10 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds while Vene added 11 points as Jerusalem went an impressive12/23 from beyond the arc in the win. Martin paced Maccabi with 17 points, Baldwin scored 15 points and Jalen Adams chipped in with 11 points in the loss.

Aleksandar Dzikic – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman
“Credit to Maccabi as they found the energy to play a competitive 40 minutes,” an exhausted Dzikic said following the game. “We figured out at the end how to close the game, it is what it is and I hope we will be better. They made us play as hard as we could and it’s the hardest test for us as they are a Euroleague team.”
“The energy was very hard to find and we saw that already a day before the game and we spoke about it as a team,” a disappointed Katash explained. “We had an anemic first half and we missed some shots as the game began. When they started to chase after Jerusalem but they hit some big shots. Every time we came close they made a run.”

Speedy Smith – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman
Speedy Smith reflected on the victory, “We just stuck to our game plan. We had some flat possessions on offense and some bad defensive plays, but for the most part we followed coach’s game plan and rebounded well. We’re still building but this is a step in the right direction.”

Hapoel Jerusalem – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman
Speedy Smith drained a 3-pointer to put Hapoel Jerusalem on the board while Roman Sorkin took care of an alley-oop from Jalen Adams for Maccabi Tel Aviv’s first points of the game, Levi Randolph scored a layup for the reds but Jarell Martin put in a 3-point play as the visitors led 7-5 midway through the first quarter. Wade Baldwin dunked, Martin nailed a corner 3-ball, Hilliard fed Josh Nebo for a layup, Smith went from inside and outside of the arc to give Aleksandar Dzikic’s squad a 17-14 lead after ten minutes of play.

Wade Baldwin – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman
Jake Cohen scored to begin the second quarter, Khadeen Carrington answered right back, Iftach Ziv put in his own miss, Zach Hankins scored for Jerusalem and Jalen Adams fed Guy Pnini for a bucket but Hapoel still stayed in front 25-21 with 5:14 left in the period. Baldwin hit a jumper, Roman Sorkin added points in the paint for Oded Katash’s crew, Siim Sander Vene drilled a 3-pointer, Hankins put down a big dunk, Pnini went from deep but Jerusalem held onto the 35-33 advantage at halftime.

Siim Sander Vene – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman
Baldwin scored off a steal, Smith immediately responded, Or Cornelius dialled up long distance for a pair from the corner while Vene and Cohen traded triples as Jerusalem still led 48-40 midway through the frame. Vene went from beyond the arc, Itay Segev scored in the paint, Martin hit a trio from deep, Carrington put in a 3-point play, Sorkin scored inside but Carrington found points as well to bump their lead up to 61-53 after thirty minutes of action.

Noam Dovrat – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman
Segev dunked to get the fourth quarter underway, Carrington went from deep, Menco stole the ball and put in a layup but Randolph came right back with a 3-pointer to keep the Reds in control 72-62 with five minutes remaining in regulation time. Adams scored a layup and Martin dunked to keep Maccabi hanging around, but Noam Dovrat went for a layup and then drilled home a killer dagger to finish off the win.
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