Hapoel Jerusalem beat French Strasbourg 80:81 yesterday (Tuesday) at Hafis Arena and went up to 1:2 in the round of 16 in the Champions League, thanks to an impressive fourth quarter during which they were already behind by five points and got back into the game, and a winning basket by Leivai Randolph in the last second.
The Reds enjoyed an exceptional evening from Zach Hankins, who starred with 28 points and 12 rebounds, but a wonderful third quarter by the French changed the course of the game and put them ahead by 15 in the final quarter.
An impressive Jerusalem comeback led by Itai Segev and Speedy Smith and a decisive basket on Randolph decided the game in a dramatic ending and gave Alexander Dzikic's men their fourth win of the season in a close game that ended by two points or less.
"Not many people counted out Strasbourg, but they proved here once again why they are in the balance they are in," Alexander Džikić complimented his opponent at the end.
"They are a great opponent that is difficult to play against, what will we remember from this game? Mainly that we won. I am not satisfied with our performance, our players did not come to play. In the last quarter we played defense as we know and should and we won."
Alexander Dzikic.
The main thing won, photo: Barney Ardov
Itai Segev, who was one of the central factors in the red turnaround and provided wonderful minutes in defense along with 4 points, 3 rebounds and a plus-minus index of 10, the highest in his team's ranks, shared his feelings at the end: "I'm glad we were able to come away with the victory, it was an important game for us. My friends scored baskets big".
After the match, the Jerusalemites will have a three-week break from the European factory, which will go into recess, and on Monday they will meet Hapoel Haifa in the semi-finals of the State Cup, which will be held in the capital.
So far, about 3,000 red fans have secured their place in the semi-finals and it is estimated that the number will increase as the game approaches.
On another issue, the team's guard Noam Doberat will undergo knee surgery next week and continue the rehabilitation process, but may miss the start of the next game season due to the long rehabilitation process, Israel Hayom learned for the first time.
As you may remember, the talented center was injured during the team's match against the Bakken Bears in the European competition at the end of November, and after a series of tests it was discovered that he is suffering from a complex injury that requires surgical intervention.
Dovrat has undergone treatments and physiotherapy in the last two months and next week he will enter the surgery phase, after which he is expected to recover for months, the length of which is not yet known.
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