Hapoel Jerusalem’s rough run continued in Champions League play as they fell at home to Ludwigsburg 80-71. The Reds took a slim 18-16 lead after the first quarter of play but as the game continued on Aleksandar Dzikic’s players went an abysmal 1/24 from beyond the arc. Josh King’s squad which featured seven players with 8 or more points took full advantage of Jerusalem’s poor shooting night and bumped up the lead 64-54 after the third quarter. The Reds tried to mount a comeback in the final frame but it was too little too late as Ludwisgburg hung on for the 9-point victory.

Marels Mejeris paced Jerusalem with 19 points and Zach Hankins scored 18 points for the Reds in the loss while Prentiss Hubb, Yorman Polas and Jhonathan Dunn added 14 points a piece to take the win for Ludwigsburg.

“They came and basically played how we were expecting them to play and how we prepared,” Dzikic said. “It’s hard to keep the same level of intensity and focus when you miss open shots. We played the whole game but what is bothering me is that we don’t recognize that we should react way better on defense.”

“Neither team played really well in the first half,” King commented after the game. “They were having an off game shooting going 1/24 with some of that coming from our defense. We were happy to come out with the win despite playing poorly in the fourth quarter.”

Zach Hankins also reflected on the disappointing defeat, “Not good enough. We got to learn how to react to adversity better and we showed that we can play and beat them any other night. We have amazing guys and talented guys and we have to react better. We have to get back on defense and our shots weren’t falling and even if they aren’t we are good enough to win on an off shooting night.”

Hapoel Jerusalem and Ludwigsburg went back and forth over the course of the first quarter as Zach Hankins, Levi Randolph and Mareks Mejeris found the basket for the Reds while Isaiah Whitehead and Jhonathan Dunn scored for the visitors as the hosts held a slim 18-16 lead after ten minutes of play.

Prentiss Hubb hit a pair of triples, Speedy Smith scored the first Jerusalem points 5:50 into the second quarter as Justin Johnson added buckets for Josh King’s squad to give Ludwigsburg a 34-27 advantage at halftime.

Ludwigsburg kept pouring on the offense as Eddy Edigin, Yorman Polas and Dunn scored at will while Mejeris was the only Jerusalem player who was able to find the bottom of the basket with any consistency but King’s team bumped up the lead to 64-45.

Mejeris kept scoring for Aleksandar Dzikic’s team as Jerusalem tried to mount a comeback while Hankins also scored in the paint but Hubb, Johnson and Polas made sure that Ludwigsburg wrapped up the win.