Unicaja escapes past Valencia, will play for ANGT Finals ticket

U18 Unicaja Malaga will play for first place at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Valencia and a ticket for the ANGT Finals after nearly blowing a 21-point second half lead but knocking off U18 Valencia Basket 58-60. Pablo Sanchez scored 13 points including the game-winning free throws with 25 seconds left after Unicaja saw the host side cut the deficit to one point in the final minute. Jeffrey Godspower added 13 points and 13 rebounds, Pablo Tamba had 12 points and Yannick Nzosa chipped in 9 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks for Unicaja, which finished with a 2-1 record in Group A. The Malaga side will take on the first-place team from Group B on Sunday for a spot in the ANGT Finals at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Cologne, Germany in May. Millan Jimenez had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Freds Bagatskis scored 13 points and Alonso Faure contributed 9 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks for Valencia, which finished 2-1 in second place in the group. Valencia ended with 22 turnovers in suffering its first loss at the ANGT Valencia after the club went undefeated to win first place in the competition last season in reaching the ANGT Finals.

Jimenez opened the scoring for Valencia but it was Unicaja which delivered the first major punch with a 0-18 run that saw Sanchez score 6 points for a 2-18 lead. Valencia committed just 19 turnovers in the first two games combined but Unicaja forced 10 Valencia turnovers before giving up a second basket - by Diego Rivas to make it 5-20. Daniil Shelist added a three-point play for Unicaja, which led 9-23 after 10 minutes. A Miguel Garcia triple pushed the lead to 9-26 to start the second frame, which saw neither team really put together a big run though Unicaja’s 0-5 spurt made it 16-35 and the score was 19-38 at the break. Valencia kept Unicaja’s offense under wraps while Guillem Ferrando and Jimenez both hit three-balls and Bagatskis knocked down three triples in getting the home side within 36-49. Bagatskis added a four-point play and it was 40-50 after 30 minutes. Unicaja scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to push the lead back to 14 points. But Alejandro Bellver’s three-pointer was followed by back-to-back baskets from Faure and the margin was only 51-56 with less than 5 minutes to play. Faure added a free throw and Alejandro Ruiz finished the 10-0 run to make it 54-56. Tamba’s two free throws snapped the drought with 66 seconds left in the game and but he then blew a breakaway dunk, which Nzosa was able to rebound but then missed both free throws with 48 seconds to play. Jimenez made them pay with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one point. Sanchez answered with two free throws with 25 seconds left, which Jimenez followed by connecting on his first foul shot but missing his second - though Valencia retained possession with 15 seconds left and down two points. Jimenez missed his potential game-winning three-pointer and Unicaja escaped.