Hapoel Jerusalem knocked off Hapoel Galil Elyon 90-78 to ensure that they will finish no lower than third place in the Israeli league standings. Barak Peleg’s team played Aleksandar Dzikic’s squad tough early on taking advantage of the Capital City Reds being without two starters in Speedy Smith and Or Cornelius which allowed Devyn Marble and Noam Yaacov to lead their respective teams as the visitors went into halftime with a 46-44 lead. However, in the second half it was all Jerusalem as Zach Hankins dominated the paint to lead five players in double digits as the hosts took the win.

Hankins scored 19 points, Levi Randolph and Brandon Brown both had 16 points, as Yaacov finished with 14 points and Khadeen Carrington 13 points in the win. Itay Moskovits scored 17 points, Deishuan Booker added 13 points and Marble checked in with 12 points in the loss.

“The game was what we were expecting as they played well against Hapoel Tel Aviv and beat Maccabi and found the style that suits them,” Dzikic said. “The second half we had one turnover for most of the second half after we had 9 in the first. We are emotionally mentally and psychologically empty.”

Khadeen Carrington also spoke about the game, “It was kind of tough as Speedy and Or didn’t play which are two of our starters. It wasn’t the best game but a win is a win. As for my block thats as vintage Dino, he thought he had an easy layup and I came in from behind.”

Noam Yaacov got busy for Hapoel Jerusalem with 7 quick points while Khadeen Carrington also found the bottom of the basket but Bryce Washington and Lotan Amsalem scored for Hapoel Galil Elyon to stay close as the hosts stayed in front 21-19 after ten minutes of action. Devyn Marble got on a hot streak while Roi Huber and Washington also found points to give Barak Peleg’s squad the lead but Yaacov, Brandon Brown and Zach Hankins knocked down their shots to pull back to within 2-points, 46-44 at halftime.

Aleksandar Dzikic’s team got busy as Levi Randolph, Oz Blayzer and TJ Cline began to fill the basket we Yaacov also scored to give the Reds a 57-52 lead midway through the third quarter. Itay Moskovitz and Huber scored for the visitors to close the gap but Hankins and Brown kept the lead at 68-62 after thirty minutes of action.

Washington and Amsalem scored to begin the fourth quarter, Carrington went from the outside while Randolph scored on the inside but a Brown triple kept Jerusalem ahead 78-71 with 5:35 left in regulation time. Hankins filled the basket with one dunk after another and Carrington also scored as the reds rolled to the double digit win.