Hapoel beats B.S./Dimona away

Hapoel opened January with a home game against Hapoel BS in Pais Arena. Since then, the Reds have not stopped winning and today they recorded their seventh victory in a row 79:74 over BS/Dimona away. Even a stuttering start to the game did not stop the Reds, and this time led by Levi Randolph (22 points) and Chris Johnson (14 points), whose excellent second half gave them the victory. On Wednesday, Hapoel will go to Belgrade for a "home" game against the Turkish Karshiyaka. Before the game, a ceremony was held in memory of Lior Lubin, who died prematurely last week after a long battle with cancer. Both teams came up to the presentation of the players with a shirt in memory of Lubin and honored his memory with a minute of applause.

Course of the game

Hapoel started with its usual five with Speedy Smith, Or Cornelius, Levi Randolph, Oz Blayzer and Zach Hankins. The Jerusalem offense struggled in the opening and missed a lot both outside the arc and easy baskets in the paint, allowing Beer Sheva to go up to a quick 10:0. The Southerners' run led Coach Kanztuoris to take a timeout, four minutes into the game, after which it was Levi Randolph who broke the deadlock with a successful half-distance shot. From here, Hapoel went on its own 10:0 run mainly thanks to Chris Johnson's energy and successful moves. The first quarter ended with Beer Sheva sitting on top, and finished with a 21:12 advantage.

Levi randolph to a lay-up  (Photo: Liron Moldovan)
 

2nd Quarter
The team from the south continued exactly where they left off with a pressing defense, which threw the Jerusalemites off balance, and with a dynamic attack that manages to take advantage of loopholes in favor of three-pointers and penetration to the ring. Beer Sheva's lead increased to 13, sending Hapoel to another timeout. Zach Hankins made a tremendous block on Gilad Levi, with Or Cornelius leveraging it for a three-pointer from the corner in order to reduce the deficit to single digits. Be'er Sheva ran away once more, but from the moment the Hapoel started to run, the situation started to be positive for it and ends the quarter with a single-digit deficit of 38:32.
 

Cornelius to the basket (Photo: Liron Moldovan)

3rd Quarter
Hapoel started the second half better with two consecutive 3-pointers by Levi Randolph that narrowed the lead to only 4 and left the Reds in the game. Jacorey Williams with a powerful dunk along with another 3-pointer on a pass from Lewai Randolph - tied the score completely and sent Be'er Sheva to a timeout. Even from the time-out, the Jerusalemites came back much sharper and tightened their defense almost completely in order to gain their first advantage of the game. The red offensive flow did not stop for a moment with Or Cornelius scoring a three-pointer and giving Hapoel the first lead of the game. The Reds finish a very successful quarter for them with the result 54:52 in their favor.

Jacorey is in the house  (Photo: Liron Moldovan)
 

4th Quarter
With the support of the red crowd that woke up, Hapoel opened the fourth quarter with 7 points within a minute and a half and increased the advantage even more. Yovel Zoosman in the center position, Zach Hankins as a goal player in the paint and Oz Blayzer as a stopper led Hapoel and continued the red run. Aggressive moves by Jacorey Williams and one powerful dunk by Oz Blayzer led Beer Sheva to a timeout, which also did not stop the Jerusalemites from gaining a double-digit lead. The southerners had little time to reduce, and this time sent Kanztouris to a timeout to ensure his team's victory. Be'er Sheva still had time to get close to the game by one position, a few seconds to the end, but at the end of the game - red 79:74.