Hapoel Jerusalem downed Igokea 84-68 to split the two games in Bosnia and even their Champions League record at 2-2. The 16 point win allows Jerusalem to control their own destiny as they will have a favorable point differential after Tuesday’s 75-73 loss to Igokea should they be tied for second place at the of group play.

Tashawn Thomas took the bull by the horns and scored 26 points while adding 9 rebounds, J’Covan Brown who looked to have reinsured his shoulder in the fourth quarter was key with 16 points and 9 assists while Tamir Blatt dropped 13 points in the win. Edin Atic and Marko Josilo ed the Bosnian club with 14 points a piece in the loss.

Tamir Blatt and Tashawn Thomas got the first quarter underway for Hapoel Jerusalem while Edin Atic and Anthony Clemmons countered for Igokea but the Reds went 6/13 from deep to take a 23-19 had after ten minutes. Thomas continued to find the bottom of the basket as did Jamil Wilson in the second quarter but so did Atic, Clemmons and Stefan Fundic as Igokoa knotted the score up at 38-38 at halftime.

Wilson and Suleiman Braimoh got the third quarter underway for Oded Katash’e team as Marko Josiilo countered but Blatt, Brown and Thomas helped Jerusalem to a 59-54 lead after thirty minutes. A shaken up Brown scored as did Braimoh and Thomas with a dunk to begin building up the lead as Chris Kramer, Brown and Blatt kept hitting from downtown as Jerusalem took the 84-68 win.

3-Pointers

The Beast

Tashawn Thomas was a beast going almost a perfect 11/12 from the field on his way to 26 points as we all saw the Tae that we know from before his injury. Thomas was aggressive, active and just plain and simply put, dominant. After a poor team showing just two days ago the forward knew full well that he along with the rest of the squad had to make sure that they would find way to win, and they did. “I knew I had to make something happen. I felt like I wasn’t there and I had to step up. My teammates trusted me and I kept my head up. That’s Jerusalem basketball, playing defense and running the offense the right way. We stayed together and tried to make them as uncomfortable as possible. We did a great job on defense and did a lot of talking and with our size we took advantages of the switches.”

Must Win

This was a must win in every sense of the word for the Reds and Coach Oded Katash after falling by two points just two days ago. Should they not have won, it would have been curtains on this season’s Champions League. but now they are back at .500 with two games to go and being able to control their own destiny. “We knew we had to win after last game which was not a good one,” explained Katash. “This was a must game for us and we still have plenty to do in a tough group and the guys took the loss really hard. Igokea is a tough team to play against and they have showed that in their other group games. At least now we can control our own destiny and we have a lot of hard work ahead.”

Shooting With Confidence

Both the defense and offense were key in the Jerusalem win. First off after last game Katash’s crew probably couldn’t shoot any worse and on the defensive side the Reds were able to keep Igokea at the same point level and fact a bit better than last game. “I feel like we shot with confidence,” said Thomas. “Last game we missed a lot of shots that we usually make. We kept finding those sots and they were able to knack them down. Defensively we kept that at the same amount of points, but offensively we knocked down those shots.”

Overtime

Let’s give captain J’Covan Brown a huge huge hand for toughing it out in the final frame after he hit the ground hard and fell right on his bad shoulder. He lay there is pain and when he finally got up it was if his arm was about to fall off and come out of its socket. But he stayed on he court and began to move and groove as he does best in order to inspire his team will them to the win. Having a player like J’Covan on your team who lays it all out on the line is quite incredible, just read what his teammate Chris Kramer wrote on Twitter immediately after the game:

Whatever it takes for y’all bro https://t.co/tRIIWAGhXx

— murderseason_aaf (@MurderseasonA) December 24, 2020

Last Licks

Lastly, it’s clear that Malcolm Hill has got to get back into shape and that these Champions League games were just not the right place for it after two disasters outings which saw Hill play close to 20 minutes in the first but only 13 in get second and was a non-factor in crunch time this time around. Going 0/6 in game two and finishing with a goose egg on the scoreboard wasn’t pretty so see. But next time when a player is coming back from an injury, Katash has got to think twice before putting him into a critical game.