Valencia hold off Ludwigsburg to start ANGT Valencia with win

Host team U18 Valencia Basket tipped off the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Qualifier Valencia with a 56-52 victory over U18 Porsche Ludwigsburg in Group A. Valencia survived a 6-minute scoreless drought in the 4th quarter and was paced by Alejandro Ortega with 13 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals while Alejandro Bellver scored 12 points and Guillem Ferrando had 11 points and 4 assists. Valencia made just 13/25 free throws (52.0%) but Ludwigsburg hit on just 4/16 (25%) from the line to go with 23 turnovers. Ariel Hukporti was a force for Ludwigsburg with 14 points, 18 rebounds, 3 blocks and 9 fouls drawn before fouling out while Lukas Herzog nailed 3 three-pointers in scoring 17 points and Radii Caisin chipped in 6 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.

Ortega’s three-pointer opened the scoring and a Herzog triple at the other end gave Ludwigsburg its first lead 3-5. The German side only scored 2 baskets the rest of the period and Valencia was up 15-9 after 10 minutes. Jakob Patrick hit two three-pointers as Ludwigsburg started the second quarter with a 0-10 run to lead 15-19. But Valencia held the opponents scoreless for nearly 6 minutes and Ortega added two more triples and the hosts were up 28-24 at the break. Hukporti scored 7 points as Ludwigsburg evened the game at 33-33 with an 0-9 run. But Ferrando countered with two three-point plays and a three-pointer as Valencia went on a 12-1 surge and was up 48-37 after 30 minutes. Three baskets from Bellver pushed the Valencia cushion to 54-39 with 6 minutes left. Herzog had 7 points before a Caisin layup ended a 1-17 surge to make it 55-52 with 26 seconds left. But Ludwigsburg could not convert another possession and the host side grabbed the win.