It took a bit of time, but Hapoel Jerusalem finally saw their offense begin to click as the Reds took a 82-68 over Hapoel Eilat on a Friday afternoon matinee special which saw close to 5,000 fans come to the Arena for some basketball fun.

Eilat came into the game very thin with only three imports due to a rash of injuries for the Red Sea City squad while Jerusalem were without one of their leading Israelis in Oz Blazyzer. Aleksandar Dzikic’s squad grabbed a 46-36 lead lead at halftime thanks to strong play by Speedy Smith while the second half saw Khadeen Carrington and Zach Hankins fill the basket against an undermanned Eilat to take the 14-point victory.

Hankins recorded a 17 point & 17 rebound double-double to lead the way, Carrington added 17 points, Levi Randolph added 14 points and Noam Dovrat scored 11 points in the win. Eric Griffin checked in with 15 points and Amit Gershon scored 12 points in the loss.

“The game was what we were expecting and I have great respect for the coach and the team,” Jerusalem coach Aleksandar Dzikic said. “They never give up and always try to find a way to win. Their situation playing with a lack of guards is a problem for their veterans and confidence. I was really pushing that we pressure on defense because teams can play well with a short rotation. The one thing I didn’t like was the start of the second quarter, but it’s W and away we go.”

“Jerusalem was the better team and I think we could have down better,” Eilat coach Ariel Beit Halachmi said. “We were naive and we gave up some easy layups, weren’t aggressive enough on defense and that was the end of the game from there.”

Levi Randolph spoke about the game that was, “This was a good win for us and we came out with a lot of energy and effort. Coach gave us a game plan that we executed and we were up all game and we started things on the defensive end. The next couple of games are on the road and we want to keep it up.”

Or Cornelius, Mareks Mejeris and Levi Randolph all dialled up long distance for Hapoel Jerusalem to get the game underway while Zach Hankins and Speedy Smith helped give the hosts a 13-3 lead midway through the first quarter. Eric Griffin, Netanel Artzi, Jared Terrell and Nate Grimes all found the hoop, Smith home a pair of triples and Khadeen Carrington scored for the Reds while Mejeris put in an alley-oop to take a 29-19 lead after ten minutes of play.

Terrell went from deep to begin the second quarter, Grimes added a basket off a steal, Amit Gershon out in a floater, Hankins scored on a putback, Randolph went from downtown and dunked, Noam Dovrat nailed a pair of triples as Artzi responded but Jerusalem held a 46-36 advantage at halftime.

Noam Avivi opened the scoring for Ariel Beit Halachmi’s squad in the third quarter, Mejeris cleaned up a miss, Artzi came right back with an open court layup and a jumper, Dovrat came back with a 3-point play and Hankins dunked to polish off a 10-0 run by Aleksandar Dzikic’s team as Jerusalem took a 58-44 lead into the final frame.

Terrell hit a 3-pointer, Carrington answered with a deuce and a triple, Hankins scored a 3-point as Jerusalem kept pouring in the points to take the win.