Hapoel Jerusalem cruised past Rostock Seawolves 94-73 as Kenny Lofton Jr. and Jaleen Smith starred to help the Reds to the EuroCup victory. Sasa Obradovic’s team was able to score early and often while finally putting the brakes on TJ Crockett Jr. who filled the basket from deep as Shake Milton, Devontae Cacok and Yovel Zoosman complimented Lofton and Smith to notch the win in the club’s continental opener.

Lofton scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Smith added 18 points and Milton dropped 14 points in the win while TJ Crockett Jr. scored 22 points and Zach Copeland put in 15 points in the loss.

David Roddy and Kenny Lofton Jr. got busy early on for Hapoel Jerusalem, TJ Crockett Jr. with a quartet of triples as well as points from Zach Copeland responded for Rostock but buckets from Shake Milton gave the Reds a 25-18 lead after ten minutes of play. Jaleen Smith started to heat up, Copeland and Crockett answered back but Roddy and Lofton finished the half off strong to keep Sasa Obraovic’s team in front 49-37.

Artur Konontsuk tried to close the gap as the third quarter began but Jaleen Smith and Yovel Zoosman scored while Lofton bumped his game total up to 20 points gave Jerusalem a 73-54 lead after thirty minutes of action. Devontae Cacok scored a pair of buckets to begin the final frame, Zoosman added points as did Nimrod Levi and Lofton to close out the win.

Jerusalem Head Coach Sasa Obradovic looked back at the victory, “This was a good win, but it’s early and we are not playing yet at our best. But a win like this now means a lot for our confidence. We still need better communication out of timeouts with better ideas. We missed Jared Harper and when Lorenzo Brown is ready we will have another guard to help out.”

Kenny Lofton spoke about the win, “It feels great with a new team, new coach we excited and it feels great to win. I do my job, I come here to play and win. I bring energy to the table and we will continue to get better.”

Jaleen Smith also reflected on the team’s strong start and the upcoming game against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Sunday, “It’s one step in this long journey, but we got off to a good start. Now our focus is on Sunday against Maccabi Tel Aviv. Harper is injured, so I’m here to organize the offense and as one of the veterans, that’s my role. We can’t rely on me alone, but tonight was my night. Next time, it will be someone else. We’re a team.”