ULEB Cup: Hapoel Jerusalem takes on Dutch champion Den Bosch

Jerusalem will be looking to improve to 2-0 after edging Strasbourg 74-73 at Malha last week.

By ALLON SINAI
basketball 88 (photo credit: )
basketball 88
(photo credit: )
Hapoel Jerusalem will try and put aside Sunday night's events at Malha Arena when it visits Dutch champion Den Bosch in the ULEB Cup on Tuesday. Jerusalem will be looking to improve to 2-0 after edging Strasbourg 74-73 at Malha last week. The team was far from impressive against the Frenchmen, but managed to grind out the victory nevertheless. Jamie Arnold and Ramel Curry led Hapoel with 18 and 16 points respectively, making up for another poor performance by Will Blalock, who failed to score. Blalock was brought to the club to orchestrate the team's play from the backcourt, and his failure to adapt to his new surroundings has been one of the main reasons Jerusalem has struggled to find its rhythm at the start of the season. Den Bosch lost 80-65 to Turow Zgorzelec in its first game of the competition last week and is 8-2 in its local league play. Darrell Tucker led the team with 12 points, with former Ironi Ashkelon player Brandon Kurtz adding 10 points. Miki Berkowitz's son, Roei, who is also a member of Den Bosch's roster, scored three points in eight minutes for his team against Zgorzelec. Hapoel Galil Elyon will continue its search for its first win in the 2007/08 season on Tuesday when it visits Russian side Triumph Lyubertsy. Galil has lost all three of its BSL games to date and was embarrassed by the semi-professional Austrian team Swans Gmunden last week. Hapoel fell to a 79-74 defeat against a Gmunden side that - despite its obvious inferiority - fought for every ball and claimed the win by sticking to the basics of the game. Lyubertsy beat KK Boducnost 75-66 on the road last week and is an impressive 7-2 in the strong Russian league. The team is guided by experienced Russian coach Stanislav Eremin and has a quality roster. Terrell Lydel led the team with 15 points against Boducnost, with Ognjen Askrabic and Mire Chatman each adding 14 points. Galil would have had a tough time against Lyubertsy even in its best form, not to mention in its current state. Coach Eli Kaneti will be hoping that his team can lift its play to the opponents' level and finally break its duck for the season with a surprise win.