ULEB Cup: Hapoel J'lem's Euro season on the line

Jerusalem's fate is no longer in its own hands and it could find itself out of Europe even with a victory over Turow Zgorzelec.

By ALLON SINAI
Hapoel Jerusalem 224.88 (photo credit: Asaf Kliger)
Hapoel Jerusalem 224.88
(photo credit: Asaf Kliger)
Hapoel Jerusalem has one final chance to resurrect its ULEB Cup campaign on Tuesday night at the Malha Arena. Jerusalem's fate, however, is no longer in its own hands and it could find itself out of Europe even with a victory over Turow Zgorzelec. Besides a win against the Polish club, Hapoel also needs Unics Kazan to lose to Den Bosch on Tuesday for it to clinch third place in the group and advance to the elimination rounds. First and foremost, however, Hapoel must defeat Zgorzelec, which is far from a given. The Poles have lost only one of their nine games in the competition so far and defeated Jerusalem 78-68 when the teams first met this season. If Kazan wins, however, Jerusalem could still book its place in the next round as one of the best fourth placed teams in the competition, should it win and results in other groups go its way. The Poles have lost only one of their nine games in the competition so far and defeated Jerusalem 78-68 when the teams first met this season. David Logan, who scored 34 points in the victory over Hapoel, leads his team with 18.2 points per game, with Thomas Kelati (17 ppg) the side's only other player to average in double-figures. The lack of dominating scorers, however, doesn't hurt Zgorzelec's strong and balanced roster, which is masterfully guided by Saso Filipovski. Tuesday's game is a meaningless encounter for Turow, which has already secured top position in the group. Sharon Sasson (13 ppg) didn't train with his Jerusalem teammates on Monday, but will be fit for Tuesday's encounter. Jamie Arnold, on the other hand, will miss yet another game, leaving the team shorthanded under the baskets once more. Hapoel, which has lost its last two ULEB Cup games by an average 40.5 points, boosted its confidence slightly on Sunday with its first road win of the season at Hapoel Afula/Gilboa and Dror Hajaj believes the team can put all its troubles aside one more time on Tuesday. "We're tired and hurting after the Afula/Gilboa game, but we must put all our problems aside," Hajaj said on Monday. "We must win. I don't really care how we do it, but we must win." Also Tuesday, Hapoel Galil Elyon, which can no longer qualify for the next round, wraps up its ULEB Cup campaign with a road game against Benetton Fribourg.