CEZ Nymburk moved into a tie for first place in Group G with a 73-67 victory over Hapoel Jerusalem at home on Tuesday. The Czech champs came from behind to take the lead for good with a 13-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarter. Nymburk led by as many as 11 before Hapoel made a late comeback, but could only get within 4. Former Hapeol player Tre Simmons shined with 13 of his 18 points in the third quarter, keeping his team alive when Jerusalem threatened to pull away. Afik Nissim and Ladislav Sokolovsky added 13 points apiece and Vladimir Stimac tallied 12 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots as Nymburk improved its record to 2-1. Jason Rich led Jerusalem with 22 points and 6 assists, Willie Solomon added 11 points and Sam Clancy 10 as Hapoel dropped to 2-1. The teams meet again next week in the Israeli capital.

After both teams missed early and then got the jitters out, Rich put Jerusalem on the scoreboard first and then Nissim netted free throws for the hosts. Rich and Clancy accounted for all the points as the visitors jumped to 3-7, but soon former Jerusalemite Simmons evened the score. Pavel Pumprla’s steal and layup gave Nymburk its first lead at 11-9 and Rich could only close the gap to 12-11 after 10 minutes. Yogev Ohayon grabbed the reins of the Hapoel attack with dishes to Clancy and Brian Randle that gave the visitors a 3-point lead early in the second quarter. Nymburk struck back quickly as Sokolovsky drained a three and added a jumper in a 7-0 spurt for a 19-15 edge. Rich came back after a short rest and drained a triple, but Mike Lenzley matched him and Stimac stretched the Nymburk cushion to 24-18. Hapoel started to get its rhythm back as Dion Dowell and Moshe Mizrahi both connected from downtown and Lior Hakmon added hustle on both ends in a 0-10 charge. Solomon’s first points put the visitors up 5, but Nissim scored twice in the final minute of the half to narrow the gap to 31-34 at the break.

Rich and Ohayon remained hot for Jerusalem into the second half, scoring and racking up assists to each other and others as the visitors’ lead grew to 37-45 on a Ohayon triple. Simmons hit twice from beyond the arc to keep Nymburk close. Nissim and Solomon traded triples, but Simmons continued his strong third quarter with a mid-range jumper and another three to cut the gap to 50-51. Simmons tacked on one more three – giving him 13 points in the quarter and Nymburk a 55-53 lead heading into the fourth. Baskets by Nissim and Simons continued the home team run and Stimac and Sokolvsky capped a 13-0 run that gave the hosts their first double-digit lead, 63-53. After Hapoel head coach Oded Katatsh called a timeout, Rich ended the visitors’ drought. However the Jerusalem defense could not stop the confident hosts as Stimac put Nymburk up 67-56. Rich hit from downtown and added a pair of free throws to give Hapoel hope. Jerusalem locked up its basket on defense, keeping Nymburk scoreless for over four minutes and Randle further cut the deficit to 67-63 from the line. Lenzly scored an important basket for Nymburk with a minute to go and after Rich scored from the line, a Sokolovsky basket and Lenzly from the line iced the win for Nymburk.