Hapoel Jerusalem dropped Benfica 97-68 to finish their Basketball Champions League group with a 5-1 record good for first place and a spot in the Round of 16 second group stage which will begin at the end of January. Levi Randolph was hot all night long and notched a game high 32 points as the Reds broke away after a close first quarter to record the 29-point win.

Jerusalem will play in a Round of 16 group with Tenerife and two qualifiers from the Play In which will be the winner of the Rytas and Peristeri matchup as well as the winner of the Karsiyaka and a to be determined opponent. Just like last week, Jerusalem brought along some families who have been effected by the war.

In addition to Randolph’s 32 points, Bryton Lamar and Oz Blayzer each scored 11 points and Khadeen Carrington added 10 points in the win. Terrell Carter scored 22 points and Aaron Broussard added 17 points in the defeat.

“In some moments we looked good in the game but some I did not like with miscommunications leading to some problems,” Jerusalem coach Aleksandar Dzikic said. “Teams will come and will punish us. We are trying to not calculate and I have been doing this for a long time and automatics don’t work in basketball. When we step on the floor we try to do the best as we can. The group was a tough one especially in our situation. We played against teams like PAOK and Benfica who have experience and if you don’t play well they will take advantage.”

“We started the game well but they got back in by the game at the end of the first quarter. It was hard to keep the level of defense and rebounding as we had some players out. They were very good from outside and had a very good percentage while also out-rebounding us,” Benfica coach Norberto Alves.

Levi Randolph reflected on the victory, “Testament of the team. It was a hectic season for us as we have been all over the place but we stayed together and continued to work. We set goals early and were able to reach those goals by finishing the first group stage in first place.”

Terrell Carter reflected on the contest, “It was a hard fought game for us, no excuses we came out and competed as hard as we could but we have a few guys out.”