Hapoel Jerusalem recorded a solid 84-78 road win over Nes Ziona in a game that looked as if they were gong to win by a ton when the clash hit halftime but then turned 180 degrees and could have been a devastating loss. But the newcomers Stanton Kidd and Ray McCallum hit big shots as the game neared its end to secure the victory ahead of the Reds next game, a date at Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion who actually had their assist coaches and star forward Akil Mitchell in the stands.

Su Braimoh scored early and often for Danius Adomatis’s sward which had numerous in-house conversations between players and staff throughout the week in order for everyone to get onto the same page. Jerusalem fell behind after an 18-0 third quarter run by Nes Ziona, but they had the wherewithal to pull it together as Adomatis went to shorter rotation over the final frame to notch the win.

“The first twenty minutes was one of the best twenty minutes since I’ve been here,” said a content Reds head coach. “We cut the second chance points and defensively did a good job. But in the third quarter they showed how they can play and we had some turnovers and some rushed decisions.”

Despite only scoring two points in this game, well below his season average, Adam Ariel has become a crucial player under Dainius Adomaits and isn’t just on the court to hit 3-pointers. Ariel is now a regular starter and playing close to 30 minutes per game as he provides much more than just his patented killer shots said Adomaitis, “Adam is the kind of player who makes the right decisions. He’s a glue guy. He connects the players on court.”

Brad Greenberg was happy to see his team mount a fierce comeback in the second half, but he also knew that it would perhaps be short lived, “We played a great third quarter and the game swung a little bit. But we had fatigue and sometimes when you work so hard to get back you can’t sustain it. Stanton Kidd made a good shot and Su Braimoh played well and they hurt us.”

Kidd, definitely slayed well and was a big factor in keeping Jerusalem in the game and then help take the victory when he hit a 4th quarter triple with the game all knotted tip at 69-69.

The forward spoke about how the squad spoke to one another as they all try they hardest to do what they need to do on the court for the best of the team as they continue to grow together, “I think the swag will come in due time but no matter how you win the game grinding out the games will be crucial for us. People are coming to play hard. I feel we hit our rough patch already.”

Braimoh, who paced the Reds over the course of the first half knew how critical the win was and expressed his thoughts about picking up the victory and its importance to the club as they clinched a playoff berth, “It was a lot of fight, a lot of heart and I told all the guys by any means necessary. By hook or by crook, by rain or high water we had to win today to get off that slide we’ve been though the last little while. I just went out there to be an example and we went out and fought tonight.”

An example he certainly was as he has been his entire career, the consummate professional day in and day out. Another pro who recently joined the crew is McCallum who drilled home a 3-pointer to give Jerusalem a 5-point lead with 1:15 left and created the separation needed to take the W back home to the capital city.

Kidd knows McCallum well as they shared the court together at Darussafaka during the 2018/19 campaign and was thrilled to talk about his new/old teammate, “He’s my brother (Ray) I was also in touch with him when he was in China. We both had off nights but for myself, the biggest thing is to not get too down. The biggest thing for me is to take those shots.”

“This is a winning club,” Kidd continued. “I don’t want to be here and it be the first time we don’t make the playoffs. The biggest thing now is to focus on every game we have left.”