The guard erupted for a career-best 35 points
Harper leads Jerusalem in 77-94 comeback win over Turk Telekom
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem continued its winning run by overcoming an early 13-point deficit before downing Turk Telekom Ankara 77-94 at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade, Serbia. With its fourth consecutive victory, Jerusalem improved to 7-2 and second place in Group B, while Turk Telekom slipped to a 4-5 record.
Turk Telekom had a better start to the game and led 33-20 in the second quarter, but Jerusalem melted the deficit in the second quarter, jumped in front in the third and pulled away in the fourth behind Jared Harper who scored 12 of his career-high 35 points in the fourth quarter. Khadeen Carrington added 19 points, while Gabriel Chachashvili collected 15 points and 11 rebounds in the win. For Turk Telekom, Braian Angola scored 15, Yoan Makoundou had 14 points and 8 rebounds, Javon Bess netted 12 points and Anthony Brown 11 in defeat.
Game Videos
It was a slow start offensively for both teams, with Bess's triple the only basket of the opening 3 minutes. Harper had a three-pointer and a three-point play to open Jerusalem's tally. Chachashvili scored 6 points for the visitors, including an alley-oop dunk, but only tied the game at 12-12 because of Bess, who scored 5 more points of his own. Turk Telekom scored the next 6 points and held an 18-14 lead after the first quarter.
Makoundou scored 5 points, including a three-point play, followed by a transition triple from Brown to open 24-16. Angola also nailed a three-pointer, then Speedy Smith knocked down back-to-back shots, making it 4 triples in a row for Turk Telekom and a 33-20 lead. Carrington and Chachashvili gave Jerusalem a spark, combining for 9 points and cutting the deficit to 39-31. A triple from Jeremy Morgan got Jerusalem within 39-37, but Turk Telekom led 44-39 at halftime.
Makoundou made a three-pointer early in the third quarter, but Carrington had a three-point play, followed by back-to-back triples from Morgan and Harper that helped open a 49-52 lead. The teams traded blows and Angola's triple made it 58-57, but Jerusalem used a pair of Coach Erdem Can's technical fouls and a fastbreak layup from Yovel Zoosman to hold a 62-65 edge after 30 minutes.
Chachashvili and Makoundou traded baskets to start the fourth quarter, but Morgan found a wide-open lane to make it 64-71. Brown and Makoundou kept Turk Telekom within a single possession, 70-73, but that's when Harper took over. The Jerusalem guard strung together 8 points, before Chris Johnson got a basket from close range as the visitors opened a 70-83 lead and cruised to victory in the final 3 minutes.