Ido Kozikaro, who grew up in Galil and made his break through there, scored 21 points without a miss from the floor to lead Hapoel Jerusalem to a convincing 89-81 road win in Galil, which stopped their 4th game winning streak.
Important 89-81 road win tonight for Hapoel Jerusalem in Galil Elyon. If Jerusalem won't fall to Givat Shmuel at home next week, and will be able to defeat Maccabi Tel Aviv on the road by 3 points or more, they'll finish the second round in first place, and will host the 3rd game of the season in the third round.
Galil started 5-2 after 4 minutes, as Jerusalem can't hit from outside and make too many turnovers, but Austin woke up and together with Naor led a 7-0 run. Kozikaro was honored to finish the first quarter after Jenkins' 4th assist, 18-15.
Bozov put Galil ahead again, but after another hoop by Austin (12 before intermission), Mason Jr. took over the game, and scored 11 points in 5 minutes, including the final shot of the half, 40-33.
Jenkins' first attempt from the field was a three-pointer which followed another one by Mason, and Jerusalem opened a double-digit lead. Bozov continued his hot hand shooting from last week, but Kozikaro's back-to-back three-point plays gave Jerusalem a 68-53 lead.
Kozikaro and Jenkins opened the largest margin of the game, 72-53, but Galil wasn't ready to throw the white towel. Bratic led them to an 11-2 run, as Gordon chips in with 5. Slay replaced Kozikaro and made some important shots, Smith kept it a single-digit lead, but then came Tapiro, in his only basket from downtown, to seal the deal, before Galil shaved some of the lead, 89-81.
Kozikaro led Jerusalem with 21 (8-8 FG), Austin and Mason Jr. 18 each, Slay 12, Jenkins 9 (8 Rebs, 6 AS, 5 TO), Naor 6, Tapiro 3 (8 AS), Ochanon 2.
Eliyahu had 19 and 6 boards for Galil, Bozov and Bratic 14 each, Smith 11 (3-11 FG), Nsonwu and Lifshitz 6 each, Gordon 5, Marko 4, Izik didn't score.
Full Boxscore Later On
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Kozikaro. Always Good in Galil |