BC Donetsk started the Eurocup season in style by beating Hapoel Jerusalem 80-71 in their Group A contest. Dmytro Gliebov scored 15, Vule Avdalovic 14 and Michael Lee grabbed 13 rebounds to help lead the winners. The game was tied at 43-43 midway through the third quarter, but Gliebov and Avdalovic heated up and put the game away. Donetsk was strong underneath – it outrebounded Hapoel 46-35 and got 5 blocked shots from Viacheslav Kravtsov – and benefitted from Jerusalem’s awful outside shooting (3 of 16 for three-points; 18.8%). Ramel Curry added 11 for the winners. D.J. Strawberry paced Jerusalem with 22 points and Yuval Naimy scored 17.

After a scoreless opening minute during which Kravtsov missed twice from the line, Curry found Kravtsov inside for a slam. Strawberry scored and assisted to Brian Randle to keep things even. The teams traded baskets and Hapoel grabbed its first lead at 11-13 on a Naimy three-pointer. The seesaw battle continued as Curry and Strawberry swapped triples until Darnell Jackson’s tip-in at the buzzer made it 23-20 after 10 minutes. Ivan Radenovic free throws, an Oleksandr Lypovyy layup and a Jacskon free throw gave Donetsk an 8-point cushion early in the second quarter, but Strawberry and co. responded with 8 straight points to even the score at 28-28. But a Avdalovic triple put the hosts ahead and 6 points by Maksym Pustozvonov in the last minutes of the half left Donetsk with a 40-34 halftime advantage.

A pair of baskets-plus-foul converted by Strawberry and Luke Jackson brough Hapoel within 41-40 early in the third quarter. A third three-point play by Naimy evened the score at 43-43. Gliebov connected from downtown to keep the hosts ahead. Avdalovic also got involved to help extend to lead to 54-47. Strawberry kept scoring the ball, but was no match for Avdalovic, who stretched the lead to 10 before settling for 63-54 heading into the fourth quarter. Gliebov saw Donetsk’s lead rise to 70-59 midway through the fourth quarter. Jerusalem tried to battle back through Strawberry and Guny Izraely and managed to trim the deficit to 5. However Kravtsov free throws and a Michael Lee basket on the offensive glass kept the hosts in control en route to the season-opening win.