Hapoel Jerusalem recorded another achievement in its wonderful season on Friday, reaching the final of the FIBA Champions League after beating Tenerife in the semi-finals. Along the way, the Reds went through a total of 16 games and accumulated 13 wins.
Rough start
The beginning of the road did not foreshadow what was to come for Aleksandar Dzikic and his apprentices. The Reds hosted Turkey's Droshafka on the opening night of the season and rescued the victory 67-69 after a thrilling game. Two weeks passed and Germany's Ludwigsburg arrived at the Arena and came away with an 71-80 victory, joining two consecutive league defeats recorded by the Reds and boosting the pressure gauge in the capital.
The loss to Ludwigsburg was stressful, Photo: Bernie Ardov
The beginning of the change
The game that changed Jerusalem's European season for the most part was the dramatic victory in Aarhus, Denmark against the Bakken Bears. The Reds struggled and looked headed for a disappointing defeat against a weaker opponent, but a dramatic basket from Marquez Meiris gave the visitors the 71-72 victory.
A month passed and the Reds met the Danish team again, this time at the Arena, and came away with an 80-89 victory. With the momentum it gained, the team went to Germany and recorded an impressive away win over Ludwigsburg 81:87. Jerusalem finished the closing round of the first group with a resounding away win in Turkey against Droushpaka 69:92 that secured the top spot and a ticket to the next stage.
Hapoel Jerusalem in Denmark. Super dramatic victory, photo: FIBA, official site
Hapoel Jerusalem opened the Top 16 stage with a disappointing home loss to French side Dijon 84:77, but knew how to atone for that with a dramatic away win against Hapoel Holon 63:65 thanks to a dramatic basket by Kadin Carrington. The Reds pulled off another dramatic victory in the ensuing round thanks to another dramatic basket, this time by LeVay Randolph to give Strasburg an 80-81 lead.
Continuing the way in the factory went much easier for the Reds. A 65:77 home win over Hapoel Holon, a fine away win in Dijon 64:73 and another sixth away win in Strasbourg 63:71 completed the job and secured Jerusalem another home title and a ticket to the quarterfinals, where it met AEK Athens.
In the first game at home, the Reds won 55-64 and went to Greece to close the story. Riots and violent acts affected what was happening on and off the court and the Reds surrendered 94:78, en route to a third and decisive game. In the third game, there was only one team on the court. The Reds danced on the court, dominated unchallenged and crushed the Greeks 51:91.
The Red Crowd at the Arena, Photo: Alan Shaver
In the semi-finals, Aleksandar Dzikic's pupils met the factory champions Lenovo Tenerife and beat them en route to a second European final in the club's history.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/S7UVDTX7DREC7DXVCZN6MEKGBY.jpg)
