In Janis Castritis' debut on the lines, the Greek inflicted a first home loss to Hapoel Jerusalem this season • Mark Lyons excelled with 23 points and 11 assists
The Jerusalem defense is chasing Lions. The game man
Photo:
Liron Moldovan
who would believe?! Hapoel Jerusalem suffered the first home loss of the season, in all frames, precisely to Hapoel Tel Aviv, who came from penultimate in the standings and stunned the Arena with 80:91.
This happened in Janis Castritis's debut on the lines, when we see the reds from Dial 03 light seemed more determined, more orderly, diverse - and most of all, wanting more. Amazing start.
It was Jerusalem's third loss in the league in its last four games, and against Hapoel Tel Aviv's first win after a three-game losing streak. As mentioned, it looked completely different from what we have seen so far, especially in recent games.
Castritis. Hapoel Tel Aviv looks like a new group under it // Photo: Liron Moldovan
Just two weeks ago, the Reds were defeated in the WC and reached their season lows. It was the game that ended Ariel Beit Halahmi's path. Two weeks later, she reached her season high, with the big win.
As mentioned, according to the first game under Castrite, Hapoel Tel Aviv is more connected and retains much better. It is more committed and its key player Mark Lyons looks completely different. 13 for three. Facing Jerusalem, he scored 23 points (3-for-3), gave up 11 assists and struck out 5 times.
Notably, Tel Aviv received Jerusalem less than 40 hours after the Champions League victory over Burgos, which gave Oded Ketch's team the lead in the FIBA Champions Cup. The voltage drop was evident in her game, and the standout figure was 6 from 26 for three.
Ketch. Jerusalem suffered stress after success in Europe // Photo: Liron Moldovan
Hapoel Tel Aviv controlled the game throughout. In the second quarter, 26:37 already led. This quarter was 44:57. Jerusalem woke up and lowered until 62:66, but it turned out to be temporary. The Reds immediately got their lead back, thanks to good minutes from Tomer Ginat, who scored 3 threes.
The scoreboard showed a 68:81 record for the visitors at the moment, and hence, Jerusalem no longer had a way to get back into the game.