BC "Hapoel Jerusalem" - BC "Prometey" (Ukraine) - 75:85 (12:27, 24:16, 20:16, 19:26). January 27. Champions League. Play-in round. 3rd match. Jerusalem. "Pais Arena".
BC Hapoel Jerusalem: Obasohan * (19), Braimoh * (15 + 8 rebounds), Adams * (13 + 4 assists + 3 steals), Segev * (0), Gates * (10), Ariel (9), Workman (3), Dovrat (0), Egbunu (6).
BC Prometey: Stephens * (15), Kennedy * (17 + 9 rebounds), Bilan * (13 + 9 rebounds), Harrison * (18 + 4 steals), Dowe * (9), Sydorov (10), Lukashov , captain (3), Lypovy (0), Petrov (0).
January 27, 2022 became a real Day of Prometey, and of all Ukrainian basketball as well! Two and a half hours after our girls reached the quarterfinals of the FIBA European Cup, Ronen Ginzburg's team made it to the Top 16 clubs of the Champions League! At the same time, the events at the start of the confrontation in Jerusalem, Israel, were like two drops of water, similar to those that initially unfolded in Slobozhansky. The Red and Whites organized a powerful 9-0 jerk, which began with a dunk by DJ Stephens, and it was he, who ended this "dry" series with a successful attack from the perimeter. Another accurate shot in the 5th minute was performed this time by DJ Kennedy, for the first time in this match set the handicap of "Prometey" at double digits figure - 14:4. The guests continued to run ahead and the figures on the scoreboard after the first ten minutes, 27:12 in favor of the "red and whites", almost completely repeated the final after the same period in the confrontation between women's "Prometey" and "Castors Brain".
At this point any analogies of two matches have ended. The start of the second ten minutes was a living reminder of the failed debut of the first match for our team. The hosts started hitting from behind the arc (Obasohan, Braimoh, Ariel), as a result of which the handicap of our team decreased almost four times (27:23). However, this time, in contrast to the confrontation in Jerusalem, this local failure did not continue. Just a few minutes was enough for "Prometey" to almost regain the lead in the first quarter (39:26).
Hapoel managed another significant leap after a long break. One and a half minutes before the end of the third quarter, the hosts managed to reduce their gap to a minimum (55:56), but very timely Denis Lukashov managed a three-point shot. I must say that today, as in some previous European Cup matches, several players of our team - D'Angelo Harrison, DJ Kennedy, Miro Bilan, DJ Stephens - managed to charge their partners with the necessary energy at critical moments. The same applies to Chris Dowe, who began to score only in the last ten minutes, but brought the team 9 points at once.
As on Tuesday in Zaporizhzhia, "Prometey" at the end of the match was better prepared physically. However, the result of the three-match confrontation was in question until the last minutes. Apparently, everything became clear, when in the 39th minute at "+7" in favor of the "red and whites" DJ Stephens took the rebound on opponent’s basket after an unsuccessful free-throw by Miro Bilan, and another DJ - Kennedy - made an end end-one.
Prometey's brilliant comeback brought him to the second group round of the Champions League after a significant failure in the first match! On February 1, the champion of Ukraine will start at this stage with a home match against the Romanian club "Cluj Napoca".
