By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With Curtis Jerrells scoring 20 out of his 26 points during the second half, Hapoel Jerusalem achieved a comeback 80 – 76 road victory against Lietuvos Rytas to kickstart their Eurocup Top 16 efforts.
Rytas was up 43 – 31 at halftime and despite a rocking entry by their opponents in the third period, they managed to have a double-digit lead 61 – 51, less than two minutes before the fourth quarter.
However the last period was all about Jerusalem. The Israelis first took the lead with a run that made it 63 – 65 from 63 – 57 and with Jerrells being unstoppable, entered the last stretch holding a 73 – 78 advantage with 79 seconds to go.
The hosts approached 76 – 68 and even had an opportunity to win the match but Rokas Giedraitis missed a three-point attempt with 12 seconds left. Even though he was the one of the best players of his team with 12 points and 5 rebounds, the Lithuanian wasn’t the ideal choice to take the shot since he had 0/6 from downtown.
Apart from Jerrells, Jerom Dyson dropped 15 points for Hapoel. David Logan had 19.