Valencia blows Buducnost out

Valencia Basket blasted Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 103-76 at La Fonteta on Tuesday night. The hosts trailed 12-15 after 7 minutes, but used strong runs to finish both the first and the second quarters to build a 53-33 lead that the visitors never threatened. Valencia improved to 8-3 to stay atop Group B, while Buducnost dropped to 7-4. Martin Hermannsson led six Valencia scorers in double-figures with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Jasiel Rivero followed with 15 points in 16 minutes, Mike Tobey and Sam Van Rossom scored 12 apiece and Jaime Pradilla and Bojan Dubljevic contributed 11 and 10 respectively. Justin Cobbs and Vladimir Micov led the visitors by posting 15 points each and both Dennis Seeley and Willie Reed added 13 in the losing effort.

Pradilla got the hosts going with a nice turnaround move inside the paint and a fastbreak dunk that set an early 6-2 edge for Valencia. Cobbs and Reed came to the rescue and combined for a 0-7 run to get Buducnost ahead for the first time in the game. Both squads traded leads for a while, as both head coaches started to rotate and change lineups. Valencia decided to feed its frontcourt and it worked well. Free throws by Tobey and Rivero preceded a triple by Dubljevic that started a three-point rain in which Van Rossom and Louis Labeyrie had one each to make it 25-17 at the end of the first quarter.

Van Rossom kept punishing from outside to raise the difference to double-digits right after the game resumed as Buducnost looked stuck on offense. Dubljevic contributed 5 points in a row that made it more painful for the visitors, 33-17, after 13 minutes. Reed finished with an alley-oop dunk to break the trend and spark a 0-7 run that brought his team within 33-23 and forced a Valencia timeout. Even though Klemen Prepelic came out with a three right after that, the home team seemed to have lost momentum and allowed Micov to reduce the gap to 36-28. It turned out to be just an illusion, as a 15-0 spurt in which Tobey had 7 points boosted the hosts to a 53-33 halftime lead.

Valencia did not show any kind of relaxation when both teams returned to the court, as Dubljevic, Pradilla and Hermannsson extended the difference to 59-34. Buducnost tried to stay close through Reed and Seeley on offense as well as switching to a zone defense. The visitors managed to slow down the opponent’s attack and found some relief from the line. A triple by Marko Jagodic-Kuridza made it 66-51 and seemed to reanimate Buducnost, but Rivero showed up inside and Hermannsson drilled a buzzer-beating three to hold his team comfortably in charge at 75-55 entering the last period.

Rivero kept rocking early in the last stanza, scoring a layup and knocking down a triple that made it 81-60, almost burying Buducnost’s hopes with 7 minutes to go. Popovic went to the free-throw line to push his team below the 20-point margin, but it didn’t help Buducnost to get momentum. Hermannsson, Prepelic and Van Rossom took over from outside then, extending the margin to 93-69 and effectively securing the outcome.

Valencia excels from long range to escape

Valencia Basket had impressive three-pointer accuracy in the first 20 minutes, as it finished the first half with 8 makes from just 11 attempts. The hosts nailed the first 6 three-point shots and it took 13 minutes to see a Valencia player miss from behind the arc. Bojan Dubljevic and Sam Van Rossom had 2 each while Josep Puerto and Louis Labeyre nailed 1 apiece before Jasiel Rivero missed from deep. It kept raining later with Klemen Prepelic and Mike Tobey draining one more each to help Valencia build a 20-point margin which proved insurmountable.

Strong late runs stop Buducnost

Valencia Basket displayed a solid and competitive performance in the early going and took a slight 12-15 advantage against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica midway through the first quarter, but Valencia punished them with a 13-2 run behind three-pointers by Dubljevic, Van Rossom and Lebeyrie to close the first quarter up 25-17. Later in the second, when the Montenegrin champs got within 36-28 with 4 minutes and a half before halftime, the home team blasted another run (15-0) that put Buducnost's back against the wall at halftime (53-33).

Balance and unselfishness help Valencia reach 100

Valencia Basket showed great balance and accuracy on offense all game long to reach the 100-point limit for the first time in the 7DAYS EuroCup this season. The home team found several different ways to produce, as all 11 players who took part in the game scored. The last one to do so was Xabi Lopez-Arostegi, who filled his stat line with a three-pointer late in the fourth quarter. Valencia also based its excellent offensive performance on remarkable unselfishness, as it signed off 29 assists - against Buducnost’s 15 - coming from 10 different players.