It leaned on the threeball to grab a Round 2 win
Jerusalem lit it up from deep to frustrate Lietkabelis again... seven years on
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem got its first BKT EuroCup win, not only this season but in nearly seven years as it downed 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys 74-94 on Tuesday night. Jerusalem returned to the competition this season for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign, and its last win came against none other than Lietkabelis, a 93-81 decision in November 2017 in Jerusalem.
Game Videos
On this night in Lithuania, Jerusalem's most dangerous weapon was its three-point shooting. The team finished the game making 12 triples on 25 attempts, good for 48.0%. Those threes came from five different players, most of all from Yovel Zoosman, who was 5 for 6 in the game, but 4 for 4 in the first half. It was his long-range daggers that got Jerusalem back to the game after falling behind by 13 points in the opening quarter.
In the second half, however, it was Chris Johnson and Speedy Smith who stepped up to the plate. Both players hit twice from long range in the final two quarters, with Johnson hitting a buzzer-beating shot to end the third quarter and make it 56-60. Then, Speedy Smith hit three-pointers on each end of a 2-12 run which turned a 62-62 score into a 64-74 Jerusalem advantage and paved the way to its first Group B win.