Levi Randolph’s last gasp floater allowed Hapoel Jerusalem to nip Strasbourg 81-80 in Basketball Champions League action. With the close win, the Reds move to 2-1 in Round of 16 Group Stage play while the French squad falls just behind them with an identical record. The Capital City side will now ready for an Israel State Cup semifinal clash against Hapoel Haifa at the Jerusalem Arena.

Zach Hankins starred for Jerusalem and helped keep the hosts in the game after falling behind by double digits as Marcus Keene provided the firepower early on and Rodions Kurucs paced Luca Banchi’s team in the third quarter. However, Aleksandar Dzikic’s charges came back to take a slim lead late in the game but the red hot Keene put in a 3-pointer with just seconds remaining setting up Randolph’s heroics out of the timeout to win the game in front of the Jerusalem faithful.

Hankins led all scorers with 28 points and 12 rebounds, Randolph added 14 points and Speedy Smith scored 11 points and dished out 8 assists in the win. Keene paced Strasbourg with 20 points and 12 assists and Kurucs scored 19 points in the loss.

“First off I have to credit our opponents who was saw why the came into Jerusalem with a 2-0 record,” Jerusalem coach Aleksandar Dzikic began. “Before the Round of 16 began they were counted out by everyone but they have played well and hit big shots. For me the only thing that we will remember is that we won the game as some of the players didn’t show up for this game.”

Hapoel Haifa’s FIBA Europe Cup campaign came to an end with a 85-76 loss at Karhu Basket as Sharon Drucker’s squad ended the group stage with a 2-4 record. Without Kadeem Allen who was back in the United States due to a death in his family, the Carmel Reds struggled all game long to find a way to get in front as the trio of Shawn Jones with 18 points, Amit Simhon with 16 points and Anthony Hickey with 15 points weren’t enough. Next up for Haifa is a date with Jerusalem in the Israel State Cup Final Four.