By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
After jumping to an early 15-point lead, Prometey held on to defeat Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, 85-75, and win the Basketball Champions League Play-In best-of-three series.
The five starters combined for 73 points drawing heavy minutes at Pais Arena and keeping their side in control through the 40 minutes. D’Angelo Harrison went for 18 points and got four steals as well. D.J. Kennedy chipped in 17 more points, nine rebounds, and five assists. D.J. Stephens had 15 points and Miro Bilan paired his 13 points with nine rebounds.
Game 2 hero Chris Dowe delivered all of his nine out of the 12 points from reserves in the last quarter providing breathers for his side until he fouled out with 2:46 left in Game 3.
The team led by Yotam Halperin failed to completely recover from the sluggish start. Outscoring the visitors in the middle quarters cut the deficit and got into shooting distance but stayed shy of the lead.
Belgian Retin Obasohan registered a game-high 19 points and dished out seven assists in the losing effort. He had nine points in the third quarter but did not carry the scoring momentum into the last ten minutes. Suleiman Braimoh followed with 15 points. Sean Kilpatrick stayed on the injury list.
Similar to Tuesday’s contest in Ukraine, Prometey head coach Ronen Ginzburg was sidelined due to a recent positive COVID-19 test. He was replaced again by assistant Milenko Bogicevic. Big man Sean Evans remained out as well.
After the heavy defeat in Game 1, the Ukraine champions beat the team based in Jerusalem twice in a couple of days to complete Group K of the Round of 16. Romania champion U-BT Cluj Napoca is already up 1-0 after forcing Unicaja to 0-1 with Filou Oostende remaining idle this week.
On the other hand, the Israeli club will focus on domestic competitions for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. The 9-4 W-L tally currently tops the Winner League standings.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League