04 October, 2022
14 May, 2023
0 Khadeen Carrington (JLM)
01/02/2023
Game Report
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Jerusalem secure win in first all-Israeli matchup, Holon remain winless

HOLON (Israel) - In the first-ever meeting between two teams from Israel in the Basketball Champions League, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem emerged with a 65-63 road win over Hapoel Atsmon Holon, thanks to a game-winning shot by Khadeen Carrington.

It may have been a home game for Holon, but Jerusalem had a good number of fans in attendance to support them and push them along.

Turning point: The two teams found their stroke from three-point range early, as they combined to make seven shots from deep in the first quarter. Holon led by as many as nine points in the second quarter, but Jerusalem trimmed it down to 35-30 at halftime.

A 17-11 third quarter by Jerusalem pushed them out ahead 47-46, their first lead of the game since early in the first quarter, as they headed into the final quarter. The fourth quarter featured a handful of lead changes and Holon led 57-49, but Jerusalem closed the game out on a 16-6 run.

After Joe Ragland tied the game at 63 with a three, Carrington responded with a game-winning shot to cap off a fun Israeli Derby.

 

Game heroes: Carrington was the hero in the end for hitting the game-winner and finished second on the team with 16 points, but Levi Randolph led Jerusalem tonight with 21 points (his most since joining Jerusalem), 15 of them coming in the second half, along with 6 rebounds and 2 assists, while shooting 6-of-11 from the field.

The two players combined for about 57 percent of the team's total points and Randolph's teams have now won eight of the 10 BCL games when he scored more than 20 points.

Stats don't lie: Jerusalem outrebounded Holon 41-28 and 15-6 in offensive rebounds which led to 18 second chance points for the road team. Jerusalem also took advantage of their 21 free-throw attempts, making 17 of them, while Holon only got 10 attempts.

Holon also only made eight two-point shots, which is tied for the fewest in a BCL game this season.

Bottom line: Jerusalem grab their first win in the Round of 16 Group I and improve to 1-1. The Israeli club will host SIG Strasbourg (2-0) in their next game on Tuesday February 7.

Holon fall to 0-2 in the group and were led in defeat by Chris Johnson (18 points, 6 rebounds) and Joe Ragland (19 points, 3 assists) who combined to score 37 of the team's 63 points. The Israeli club will travel to face JDA Bourgogne Dijon (1-1) in their next game on Wednesday February 8.

 

They said: "I think in the first half, we didn't do the things we wanted to do, but in the second half, we just stayed in it. We even got down a little bit, but we stuck together and got some big stops and some big baskets at the end. I think our fans were really great tonight, they kept us in the game." - Khadeen Carrington, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem

"First of all, I like the atmosphere. I really like all the noise and the pressure that the home fans were putting on us. I have great respect for our fans coming and supporting us in this kind of environment. Joe [Ragland] was not the January MVP for no reason. That means you have to help. That means one of the other guys will be open, so it's super hard to cover him, believe me, it's super hard." - Aleksandar Dzikic, Head Coach Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem

"Tough loss at home. We knew coming in that they're a good defensive team, one of the best defensive teams in the Champions League. They limited us to 63 points. I think they did a good job of pressuring the ball, taking away our guards and tired them down." - Chris Johnson, Hapoel Atsmon Holon

"Overall, we were leading most of the game, but it was a short gap. I think the big damage was 15 offensive rebounds to 18 points. Offensively, it was tough for us to create situations." - Guy Goodes, Head Coach Hapoel Atsmon Holon