Speedy Smith led Hapoel Jerusalem to a 20-0 run in the second quarter to spur the Reds to a 81-70 win over Bnei Herzliya to take a 1-0 series lead in their best of five quarterfinal tilt. Game two will shift to the Yovel Arena in Herzliya on Sunday at 19:35 as the hosts will look to even up the series.

With Aleksandar Dzikic back on the Jerusalem bench following a short trip to Serbia to pay his last respects to his mother, the hosts came out a bit sluggish with a bit of a Basketball Champions League Final Four hangover. But they picked up the pace in the second period as Smith’s 18 points put Jerusalem ahead for good with a 42-36 lead at halftime while Oren Aharoni’s shorthanded roster couldn’t overcome the deficit over the course of the second half.

Smith paced Jerusalem with 23 points, Zach Hankins added 15 points and Levi Randolph chipped in with 11 points in the win. Chris Babb scored 23 points and Maurice Kemp put in 19 points in the loss.

“The game as we were expecting and I respect our opponent, I have great respect for their coach and the team,” Dzikic began. “We won, but I don’t understand how players are playing with low energy and I don’t have time for that. I will shorten the rotation from 10 to 7, I don’t care less. Either you’re mentally ready or you’re not. There is no grey area, it’s not like we have a lot of time and the guys have to understand that.”

“I think we played as good game despite having some players out,” Aharoni began. “We were able to do some things that we wanted to but at the end our shooting percentage wasn’t good and we missed some big chances at the end. This is only one game in a series and we won’t give up. We’re disappointed but we will pick it up and get ready for Sunday’s game.”

Oz Blayzer also spoke about the game that was, “We took the win which is the most important thing at this stage. We weren’t happy with how we did it but Speedy really helped us in the second quarter to take the victory.”

Chris Babb got off to a red hot start while Quinton Hooker also hit his shots from the inside and outside for Bnei Herzliya while Zach Hankins and Khadeen Carrington found points for Hapoel Jerusalem but the visitors grabbed an early 22-14 lead.

Maurice Kemp got busy in the paint, Robert Carter went from deep for Oren Aharoni’s team but Speedy Smith went off for five triples and added a 3-point play for good measure to send the Reds on a 20-0 run and give Aleksandar Dzikic’s squad a 42-36 lead at halftime.

Levi Randolph started to find the basket as did Mareks Mejeris while Hankins also put in points off Jerusalem, Babb kept hitting his shots from deep but Carrington dialled up long distance to keep the hosts in front 60-55.

Or Cornelius knocked down a corner 3-ball while Randolph also scored at the other end Hooker and Kemp did the damage but Smith and Oz Blayzer scored down the stretch to finish the game off and gave Jerusalem a 1-0 series lead.

Hapoel Holon took a 2-0 stranglehold series lead over Hapoel Galil Elyon with a 96-88 win up in the Galilee as the purples will look to sweep with game three on Monday back at the Toto Arena. Deishuan Booker and Bryce Washington helped the hosts grab a 55-44 lead at halftime but Shawn Dawson, CJ Harris along with Chris Johnson and Joe Ragland all helped Guy Goodes’s squad comeback to take the win.

Dawson led the way with 27 points and 9 rebounds, Harris added 18 points while Johnson and Ragland each dropped 14 points in the win. Booker paced the hosts with 21 points and Washington scored 17 points in the loss.

“In the first half we looked as we had at the start of the season,” Goodes said. “In the second half we got back to defending and being aggressive to achieve our goal. It’s not easy to play against the same team a number of times and I said at halftime that we had to change the way we were playing or else we were going to lose. “

“You have to play two halves in basketball,” Galil coach Barak Peleg said. “The last game we played in here because the playoffs also saw us fall asleep after the first half. Holon were able to get right back into the game in just the first few minutes of the second half. Even when we were down by double digits we never gave up.”