Jerusalem win Group E, RIESEN go through to Play-In

MIES (Switzerland) - In the final two regular season games from Group E, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem and MHP RIESEN emerged victorious in their respective games, with Jerusalem advancing to the Round of 16 and RIESEN going through to the Play-In.

After trailing after one quarter and holding a one-point lead in the second quarter, Jerusalem closed the first half on a 13-4 run to extend their lead out to 51-41 over Darussafaka. They carried that momentum into the second half and led by as many as 23 points to pull away for a 92-69 win.

Jerusalem have now won eight of their last nine games in the BCL regular season.

Jerusalem's trio of Levi Randolph (17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) Zach Hankins (18 points, 4 rebounds) and Khadeen Carrington (17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) combined to score 52 of the team's 92 total points and 19 of the team's 32 made shots.

Hankins has now scored 10+ points in each of his last seven BCL games, his best streak in the competition.

Jerusalem dished out 27 assists, which is tied for second-most by a team this season in the BCL, and also sunk 11 three-pointers.

Jerusalem have wrapped up the regular season at 5-1 and the Israeli team will be in the Round of 16 Group I. Darussafaka, on the other hand, ended up 2-4 in the regular season and the Turkish club will now face S.L. Benfica (who finished 4-2 as the second-place team from Group F) in the Play-In.

"At the start of the season, there were so many doubts about this team, so I am kind of proud that we ended up where we ended up in this group," said Aleksandar Dzikic, head coach Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem.

RIESEN got a battle from Bakken Bears but were able to put them away 94-86 thanks to a 9-3 run in the final two minutes of the game.

Shonn Miller, Justin Johnson and Isaiah Whitehead all led RIESEN off the bench with double doubles. Miller finished with a with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double, Johnson with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Whitehead with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

This was the first time that a team had three players with a double-double in the same game and the first time in the BCL that a team has had multiple bench players with a double-double.

RIESEN's bench was the story of the game, as those three players off the bench combined for 32 of the team's 53 total rebounds and RIESEN also outscored Bakken 55-15 in bench points.

RIESEN finished the regular season 4-2 in Group E and the German club will face Limoges CSP (who finished 3-3 as the third-place team from Group F) in the Play-In. Bakken were already eliminated from the competition, but got a strong performance from Tony Carr, who finished with a near triple-double of 28 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.

The final standings from Group E:

12/12 games played