Hapoel Jerusalem wins crucial FIBA Championsleague game against Pinar Karsiyaka

In a crucial matchup in Group B of the Basketball Champions League, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem picked up a huge win on Pinar Karsiyaka’s home court, 85-65.

Jerusalem now owns the tiebreak over Karsiyaka if the two teams finish tied at the end of group play.

This loss was the biggest defeat ever in the BCL for Karsiyaka, and they have lost three consecutive games for the first time in league history.

Jerusalem, meanwhile, has won consecutive games in the BCL for the first time since January – March 2020, when they went on a seven-game winning streak.

Turning point: Jerusalem led the entire first half and led by as many as 21, but they got outscored 23-14 in the second quarter.

Karsiyaka’s James Blackmon converted a four-point play to end the half, and it looked like they would gain some momentum heading to the second half.

Jerusalem never let Karsiyaka fully get into the game, as they outscored them 45-30 over the last two quarters and led the game wire-to-wire.

Game heroes: Jalen Adams (21 points, four rebounds, two steals) and Retin Obasohan (22 points, five assists, three steals) carried the load on offense tonight for Jerusalem, as they combined for over half of the team’s 85 points.

Only David Holston has had more games (eight) with 20+ points and 5+ assists in BCL history than Obasohan (seven).

Adams shot 7-of-14 from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point, while Obasohan went 7-of-14 from the field and 2-of-6 from three-point.

Stats don’t lie: Jerusalem outscored Karsiyaka by 30 points from the three-point line, knocking down ten more threes (16-6).

The 16 made threes were the most for Jerusalem in any of their last 17 games in the BCL; only against Anwil (January 15, 2020) did they score more three-pointers in a single BCL game (17).

Jerusalem also outscored Karsiyaka 43-31 in points from the bench, with Adams (21 points), Adam Ariel (11 points), and Suleiman Braimoh (8 points) combining for 40 of those points.

Karsiyaka blocked eight shots in tonight’s game, a joint-high in a single BCL match this season after they also had eight blocks against Arged BM Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski earlier this season.

Karsiyaka’s Tony Taylor finished the game with 10 points and has now scored 659 points in BCL history, passing Dusan Sakota (658) for the sixth-most points in the competition.

Bottom line: Karsiyaka is now 2-3 and currently sits in third place in Group B.

The Turkish club will finish group play against Arged BM Stal Ostrow Wielkopolski on Dec. 22.

Jerusalem is also now 2-3 and sits in second place in the group thanks to owning the tiebreak.

The Israeli club will face BAXI Manresa in their last game of group play on December 22.

The race for the two Play-In spots between Karsiyaka, Jerusalem, and Ostrow is wide open.