The Jerusalem guard scored almost one-third of his team’s 94 points at Ekinox
Unstoppable Jared Harper wreaked havoc on Bourg's defense
Jared Harper demolishing an opposing defense is no news anymore. Having scored in double digits in each of his 16 games, the Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem guard is the BKT EuroCup’s leading scorer and arguably the finest performer in the competition so far this season.
Harper finished the game against Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse with 31 points, but this stat may not surprise anyone, as he has already scored 27 or more points in five duels this term. The 27-year-old Jerusalem star shot 4-for-6 from inside the arc and 3-for-4 on triples in the 67-94 blowout of Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse on Wednesday night.
For yet another game, he was aggressive on offense, drawing a game-high 7 fouls and making 14 of 15 from the charity stripe to amass almost one-third of Jerusalem’s points at Ekinox. Having pulled off another extraordinary performance for the Israeli side, Harper earned plaudits from his coach, Yonatan Alon, who was full of praise for his player after the game.
“He is a great player,” Alon said in the post-game press conference. “I’m happy he plays for us. It’s not only the skill that you see. It’s also the character, playing [despite being] hurt [or] tired. Obviously, all the teams put a lot of pressure on him and he’s still performing at the highest level. Signing him was a very good choice.”
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Harper may have stolen the spotlight, but Khadeen Carrington and Justin Smith also chipped in with 15 and 14 points, respectively, meaning that the three Jerusalem players combined for 60 points against Bourg.
Having gone 5-for-18 from the field in Jerusalem’s previous game that ended in a narrow 76-75 loss away at Umana Reyer Venice, Harper bounced back with a statement outing at Bourg. The Jerusalem guard has led his team to playoff qualification, with a potential win next week against Turk Telekom Ankara being just enough to clinch them a quarterfinal spot. And in Harper, Jerusalem boasts a player who can ensure that too. But that’s not news anymore.