Hapoel Jerusalem is nearing the end of its path in the Champions League.
The team from the capital was defeated in Poland by Stal Ostrov 76:65 and is without a win after 3 rounds.
The loss tonight (Wednesday) brings Jerusalem closer to finishing last at home, unless it makes a big difference in the games it has left against Stal at home and against Karsiaka and Narsa away.
For the Poles this is their first victory after two losses in the opening.
The story of the game is the breakup in the last quarter.
A 0:16 run by the host team early in the fourth quarter raised them to 52:70.
Hence Jerusalem's struggle was only to reduce the difference in order to leave a chance to win by a higher margin in the arena in two weeks and with it some chance to continue.
Jerusalem somehow managed to reduce to 11 points at the end.
With the entry of Jerusalem into the deep pit there was a puzzling event when Anthony Bennett who was not a partner until then was first put on the floor in the 35th minute.
It was not just a loss of control at the beginning of the last quarter, it was a continuation of the bad start of the season of Jerusalem and more.
The first quarter was still good with a Jerusalem advantage of 11:22 but from here we saw a monotonous Jerusalem team that throws for only three.
It was a horror show of off-net shots and uncontrollable basketball in the final quarter.
The 6-of-32 from outside the arc against Manresa still looks good compared to the 7-of-43 from this game.
Jerusalem scored 4 threes in the first quarter and until the end of the game she scored another 3. Compared to 43 attempts, Jerusalem threw only 29 times to 2.
The option of the face game in Jerusalem does not exist.
On the other hand, also because of the losses she had no answer for Stal in the open field.
In the explosive attacks it was a crushing victory for the host.
Except for Jaylen Adams who scored 19, no player in Jerusalem has reached a double-digit balance of points.