Eurocup Qualifying Round, Game 2 report: Hapoel Jerusalem 88-79 Chorale Roanne
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 Hapoel Jerusalem is back in the Eurocup regular season after downing Chorale Roanne 88-79 in the Israeli capital on Wednesday. Jerusalem, the 2004 ULEB Cup champion, becomes the third former competition champ to advance via the qualifying rounds. After a close quarter-and-a-half, Yogey Ohayon stepped up to lead a 10-0 charge that put the hosts ahead for good. Roanne, which held a 2-pointlead from the first leg in France, never gave up and kept it close throughout the fourth quarter. Pape-Philippe Amagou’s triple cut the aggregate deficit to 4 with just over a minute left, but he missed from downtown on his next attempt and Tre Simmons iced the game from the line in the last half-minute to seal a ticket to the Eurocup regular season. Simmons paced the winners with 22 points, Brandon Hunter added 18, Dijon Thompson scored 13 and Ohayon recorded 11 points, 6 assists and 4 steals. Uche Nsonwu led Roanne with 21 points, Amagou had 14, Marc Antoine Pellin 11 and 5 assists and Ralph Mims scored 10 in defeat.
Roanne got the start it dreamed of as Amagou fired in a three and baskets by Nsonwu and Dylan Page made it 0-7 after less than 100 seconds. Jerusalem got its feet as Thompson answered with a three and before long Yuval Naimy's pull-up triple put the hosts ahead 8-7. Another Amagou triple restored Roanne’s lead and the guard’s third of the night made it 12-17. Ohayon came off the bench and sparked Hapoel with a steal and layup and an assist to Simmons on the break. Ousmane Dia scored on the break to give Roanne an 18-22 lead after 10 minutes. Hunter made his presence felt with a slam to open the second quarter and Ohayon tied the game on the break. Sharon Shason drilled a three to put the hosts on top. Ohayon added free throws during a 10-0 charge as the hosts claimed control of the game. Page’s jumper stopped Roanne’s drought and Nicholas Lewis soon narrowed the gap to 4, but threes from Simmons and Ohayon helped Jerusalem soar to 43-34. Kevin Pinkney stretched the lead to double figures as the hosts went into the locker room ahead 49-39.
Hunter made it a 12-point game at the start of the second half, but Roanne fought back through Dia, Mims and Nsonwu. Simmons and Hunter made sure that Jerusalem kept a comfortable lead, even though Roanne continued to threaten and got within 62-56 on a David Noel layup. The crowd cheered as Thompson buried a deep three and Simmons scored on the break to increase the lead to 11. Nsonwu powered his way to a basket-plus-foul before Pinkney and Page traded threes. Hunter made a pair from the line to give Jerusalem a 72-62 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Lewis scored for Roanne on the offensive glass only to see Hunter respond with a basket-plus-foul and for Pinkney to add on with a steal and a two-handed slam to put his team up 13. Page and Amagou fueled Roanne’s hopes and Mims cut the lead to 77-70, which was only 5 points on aggregate. Thompson produced a clutch block on one end and a follow-up slam at the other to revive the hosts, however Nsonwu made it 79-74 with his three-point play. Roanne was already in the penalty and Jerusalem took advantage as Ohayon sank a pair and Roanne started to panic by forcing threes. Ohayon brought the crowd to its feet with a dish to Hunter for a slam, however Amagou's three with 1:10 to play cut the aggregate lead to just 4. However Amagou missed an open three with 35 seconds remaining and Simmons iced the victory from the line.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Eurocupbasketball.com
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