Hapoel Jerusalem 86-76 defeated Hamburg Towers in EuroCup action making the first European game back in Israel since the breakout of the war back on October 7, 2023. Although the contest was played in Holon due to the Jerusalem Arena being unavailable, the reds fans packed into the Heichal Toto about 45 minutes away from the capital city in order to witness another step to a return to normalcy in the Holy Land.

Hapoel Jerusalem who were playing without an injured Roi Huber and Austin Wiley who was ill saw Khadeen Carrington and Cassius Winston guide the reds to a 48-40 halftime lead Zacharie Perrin and Devon Daniels tried to keep the German side close, but Winston kept scoring while Carrington and Jared Harper found points as well to sew up the win.

Winston scored 21 points, Carrington added 19 points and Harper put 17 points in the victory while Daniels and Perrin each scored 16 points in the loss as Jerusalem moved their record to 8-2 on the season.

Yonatan Alon spoke about the return to Israel and the game itself, “Having my family here was amazing and it was great to have the fans with us as well. Having played in empty arenas was really difficult even after wins you feel that something was missing. We didn’t play that well in this game but if we can win this way, then we can live with it as well.”

Hamburg’s coach, Benka Barloschky commented about the game, “Congratulations to Hapoel on the win. As I said before the game, I consider Hapoel the best team in this group. When we got the news it was of course a challenge, because things have happened in recent years, but I have to say the hospitality was good, the hotel, the food in Tel Aviv is always good. There was a wonderful atmosphere in the arena and I’m happy for everyone who was there; being able to focus on basketball for two and a half hours is a gift.”

Khadeen Carrington reflected on having EuroCup games back in Israel, “It feels great having our fans here and sleeping in our own bed, it’s the small things and it’s great to be back. I feel that in both halves we didn’t stick to our game plan and we eventually got back rolling and got stops where we needed to and baskets as well. We are at the top of standings but there is more work to be done.”

Jared Harper also talked about the return of continental competition to the Holy Land, “It was great to have our fans and that atmosphere. It wasn’t our best game of the season but we were able to feed off of our fans to get the win. It was tough having to do all of that travel and you’re bodies are tired as well as more time away from home which also meant less practice time. With games being back we will recover better and we will be able to practice nine as our goals are the same as they were at the start of the season.”
Bnei Herzliya slipped by Tofas Bursa 82-81 to win there first Basketball Champions League game and move their record to 1-4, however, despite the victory Yehu Orland’s team was eliminated from advancing to the Play In round of the competition due to not having won by at least 5-points.

In a game that took place in Opava, Czechia, Elijah Stewart with 19 points and Daeshon Francis with 18 points did everything in their power to find way to keep their chances alive and head into a clash with Tenerife on the final gameday with an opportunity to move into the next round. But it wasn’t meant to be as Yigitcan Saybir (28 points) and Furkan Korkmaz (14 points) kept the Turkish squad close enough to ensure they would move out of Group D and into the next stage.

Yehu Orland spoke about the game, “It was an important for us to grab the win here as we lost the last games and we wanted to show the other teams and media that we deserved a win in the Champions League. We were good enough in this game to win and we have a lot of respect for Tofas. We didn’t want to finish the campaign without a win.”

In Israeli league play, Hapoel Beer Sheva got by Elitzur Netanya 83-77 as Yoav Vitlem set a new career high to help lead the southern reds to the road victory. The 20-year old Israeli guard scored 24 points added 8 assists and also drew 9 fouls as he proved to be unstoppable for Rami Hadar’s team. Neta Segal (15 points) along with Brandon Angel (13 points) and CJ Elleby (11 points) were able to best the hosts who had Otis Frazier starring with 26 points.