Jerusalem reeling after another Eurocup defeat
Galatasaray sends Hapoel to last place after handing it third home loss in as many games
Hapoel Jerusalem’s disappointing start to the season hit a new low on Wednesday night, with the Israeli champion falling to last place in Eurocup Group B after suffering a 91-81 home defeat to the previously winless Galatasaray, After finally getting its first Eurocup win under its belt last week, Jerusalem entered the contest hoping to build some momentum and continue making up lost ground. Instead, it dug itself into an even deeper hole, falling to 1-4 and last place in the standings at the midway point of the regular season.
Hapoel was fortunate to eke out a 63-61 victory at Reggio Emilia last week, and that remains its only win after it was outscored 29-13 in the first 10 minutes against Galatasaray and couldn’t manage to complete a comeback.
With four of the group’s six teams to advance to the next round, Hapoel still has every chance of progressing. It looks set to battle Reggio Emilia, which has two wins, and Galatasaray, which also has a 1-4 record, for the fourth and final ticket for the Top 16. But in order to even finish in fourth position it will need to register a dramatic improvement in the coming weeks, something which is beginning to look less and less likely under Greek coach Fotis Katsikaris. Top scorer Curtis Jerrells was cut from the team last month after clashing with Katsikaris, but it remains to be seen how much longer owner Ori Allon will continue to back the coach, with the team being booed off the court by many of its fans on Wednesday.
Those supporters had just witnessed a third defeat in three home games in Eurocup action this season, after the team had lost just one of nine continental contests in Jerusalem throughout last season on its way to the semifinals.
“We made some steps in the last few games, but we had the same symptoms as the previous games here and I don’t have any explanation for that,” said coach Katsikaris, looking completely lost for answers.
“We needed to go out there and give everything we had and unfortunately we didn’t do that as a team.”
Hapoel hosts Lietkabelis Panevezys of Lithuania next week before playing three of its final four games on the road, including against Buducnost, Bayern Munich and Galatasaray, who all won in Jerusalem.
Jerome Dyson led Hapoel with 18 points on Wednesday, with Alen Omic and Richard Howell each scoring 14 points.
Dwight Hardy had 24 points for Galatasaray, which shot 13-of-26 from three-point range compared to Hapoel’s 4-of-16.
After a nervy start by both teams, Jerusalem completely lost its head in the final four minutes of the first quarter. The stressed hosts dug themselves an early hole that left them chasing the Turks throughout the night.
Hapoel couldn’t stop Galatasaray from beyond the arc, with the visitors outscoring Jerusalem 16-2 in the final 4:10 minutes of the period to open a 16-point cushion (29-13). That proved to be the biggest gap of the night, with Hapoel closing to within four points (37-33) during the second frame before entering the break down by eight points (48-40).
Galatasaray was still ahead by six points (67-61) ahead of the final 10 minutes, with the Turks establishing a double-digit lead yet again (78-68) before Hapoel moved within four points (78-74) with five minutes to play.
However, the hosts would come no closer, with the remainder of the game following exactly the same pattern as the rest of the contest and the night ending with resounding boos by the disgruntled Hapoel fans.