By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Dealing with the enormous pressure delivered by the Holon Toto Hall crowd, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem edged out Hapoel Atsmon Holon, 65-63, Wednesday night.
Stepping on the three-point line, Khadeen Carrington sank the game-winning shot with 8.2 seconds left in the Basketball Champions League Round of 16 Gameday 2 contest. C.J. Harris missing at the buzzer wrapped up the first-ever BCL game between Israeli teams.
Carrington, 27, kept the visitors close with a team-high eight points in the first half. Adding eight more points after the break, including six in the fourth quarter and the deciding bucket lifting the team coached by Aleksandar Dzikic to 1-1 in Group I. A brilliant follow-up to winning all three away games of the Regular Season.
The reigning champions of Israel’s Winner League were forced down to 0-2 with a nine-game winning streak in Champions League home games snapped by the Jerusalem outfit. January MVP Joe Ragland tucking in a three-pointer knotted the nail-biter at 63-63 with 27.7 seconds left but that was not enough to send the loud fans home happy.
The top-scorer of the 2021-22 BCL season, Levi Randolph scored 21 points matching his personal best in the ongoing campaign. The Alabama product put up 15 of his points in the second half emerging as the enforcer before Carrington, a Seton Hall alumni, took over.
Recent signing T.J. Cline did not suit up but loanee from LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne Noam Yaacov made his debut in FIBA’s top-tier club continental competition producing one assist in three minutes. Recovering from knee surgery, Noam Dovrat stayed on the injury list.
Ragland, 33, finished with 19 points. Chris Johnson followed with 18 points for the team guided by Guy Goodes.
Postgame press conference
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League