JERUSALEM, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Hapoel Jerusalem secured first place in EuroCup Group A and a direct spot in the quarterfinals with a 114-104 overtime win over Romanian champions Cluj-Napoca on Wednesday night at the Pais Arena.
Mitch Creek kept the visitors close early, but paint dominance and points from Yovel Zoosman gave Jerusalem a 22-19 lead after the first quarter.
Anthony Lamb and Jared Harper pushed the advantage to 36-24 midway through the second quarter, and Cassius Winston made it 48-33 at halftime.
Jerusalem extended the margin to 69-46 before Cluj-Napoca mounted a strong comeback led by Trey Woodbury and Patrick Richard, cutting the deficit to 71-60 by the end of the third quarter.
Richard completed a 19-2 run early in the fourth to make it 71-65, and his three-pointer later narrowed the gap to 82-81.
Woodbury hit a three-pointer with eight seconds left to cut the deficit to 95-94. Harper made one of two free throws, and Woodbury converted two from the line with 2.1 seconds remaining make it 96-96 and force overtime.
Khadeen Carrington then knocked down two key three-pointers to secure the win for Jerusalem.
Harper led Jerusalem with 30 points, while Carrington added 20 and Justin Smith finished with 14. Woodbury scored 28 for Cluj-Napoca, and Richard added 19.
With one game remaining, Jerusalem improved their win-loss record to 13-4 at the top of the 10-team group. The second team to advance from the group directly to the last eight will be either Bahcesehir (11-6) and Cedevita Olimpija (11-5).
Bahcesehir lost 82-80 at home to Slask Wroclaw and travels to Lithuania next week, while Cedevita Olimpija still has to play at Hamburg on Thursday and against Slask in Wroclaw in the closing round. Teams placed third through sixth will compete in the round of 16.
In Group B, French side Bourg secured first place and a quarterfinal berth after defeating the London Lions 86-85, improving to 13-4.
Besiktas also advanced directly to the quarterfinals, clinching second place with a home win over Turk Telekom 91-81 to move to 12-5. ■
