Jerusalem opened its Eurocup season in style with a 91-78 win over VEF Riga in front of a packed house at Malha in the Israeli capital. Jerusalem used an 11-0 first quarter run to take control of the game and never looked back en route to a solid win. The hosts shot well, led by Willie Solomon’s 5-for-5 effort from downtown, and outrebounded VEF 36-20. Solomon shined with 17 points and 4 assists in his first Eurocup game since winning the competition with Jerusalem in 2004, but was not alone among Hapoel heroes on this night as Brian Randle recorded 22 points and 9 rebounds and Jason Rich scored 20 and dished 6 assists. Sam Clancy also scored 11 for the winners, who visit Cajasol Sevilla next week. Kristaps Janicenoks led Riga with 23 points, Derek Williams scored 20 and Kaspars Berzins 12 for VEF, which hosts CEZ Basket Nymburk in Week 2.

Although Riga got on the scoreboard first through Janicenoks, it was a dream start for Jerusalem. Solomon got himself reacquainted with the Eurocup by setting up Randle for the hosts first score, picking up a steal that led to a Rich basket and then burying a triple as part of an 11-0 burst. Williams got to the line for a free throw, but another Solomon three and a Randle slam made it 16-3. The best efforts of Tyler Cain and Janicenoks were not enough for VEF as Hapoel took the lead to 16 on a Yogev Ohayon triple before settling for a 26-12 advantage after 10 minutes. Yuval Naimy made it 18 early in the second quarter, but Williams started to settle the visitors with a pair of baskets. Janicenoks drilled a three to close the gap to 33-20, though Solomon responded with his third triple of the night. Artsiom Parakhouski started to make some noise inside and a three-point play from the red-hot Berzins made it an 11-point game, but Solomon came up big with another three and an assist to Clancy that pushed Jerusalem up 49-33 at halftime.

A Rich layup early in the second half saw Jerusalem soar to its first 20-point lead. Dairis Bertans knocked down a three for Riga, but Solomon made it a perfect 5 for 5 from downtown and Randle put Hapoel up 58-36. Janicenoks and Martins Laksa slowly nibbled into the deficit before Parakhouski scored twice to narrow the gap to 62-48 at the end of the third quarter. Janicenoks brought the visitors within 13 at the start of the fourth quarter as Malha fell silent. However Randle scored on the offensive glass, Rich set up Clancy for a layup and Naimy made it 68-49 as the arena was rocking again and VEF used a timeout. Williams picked up his offensive game and scored on three consecutive Riga possessions, but made little impact as Rich connected from downtown and Moshe Mizrahi came off the bench for his first points. Janicenoks kept firing away and Cain got his team as close as 11, but Jerusalem was never in any trouble down the stretch and eased any doubts with 9 unanswered points to wrap up the victory.