Power Electronics Valencia held off Galatasaray Café Crown’s second-half charge to register a 78-82 road win that keeps the team strong in the Group J race. Nando De Colo scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to help Valencia win its second straight game and improve to 2-1, the same record as rivals Hapoel Jerusalem and UNICS Kazan. Galatasaray dropped to 0-3 and may need to win all of its remaining games to have a chance at the playoffs. Power Electronics hosts Galatasaray in their next game in two weeks in Spain. The visitors dominated early with 16 straight points in the first quarter en route to a 25-46 halftime lead. The advantage hit 25 early in the third quarter before Evren Buker and Mike Wilkinson led a comeback. However the deficit proved to be too much to overcome and clutch points from De Colo whenever the hosts got too close were enough to hand Valencia the victory. Matt Nielsen finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks in an all-around great game for the winners. Kosta Perovic added 11 points and Serhiy Lishchuk 10 for Power Electronics. Buker, who took on a larger role in the offense due to the absence of Darius Washington, shined with a season-high 25 points – 1 less than he had in his last six games together. Buker was 5 for 5 from downtown. Mike Wilkinson added 22 points and 8 rebounds, Rado Rancik scored 14 and Simas Jasaitis recorded 12 and 8 in defeat.

It was an ideal start for Valencia as a pair of Victor Claver threes sandwiched Wilkinson’s tip-in. Perovic made it 2-8 with a slam. Wilkinson remained Gala’s only source on offense with a second basket. Power Electronics continued to overpower the home side, as Rafa Martinez scored 5 straight points, Claver added a bucket and Nielsen converted a three-point play. De Colo and Lishchuk also got on the board before a Buker three ended a run of 16 unanswered Valencia points. De Colo scored his second basket and Jasaitis hit from downtown to make it 10-26 after 10 minutes. The local fans had reason to hope when Jasaitis hot another three and Buker produced a steal and slam to open the second quarter in style. However Valencia soon roared back. Lishchuk revived the visitors with a basket-plus-foul, but Rancik helped Galatasaray stay in contention. But Nielsen came through with a steal and slam and Thomas Kelati deliverd back-to-back triples to push the lead to 20+. Lishchuk made it 21-44 inside before Buker and Can Akin narrowed the gap slightly to 25-46 at halftime.

Valencia looked to put the game away as Nielsen drained a three and a Lishchuk three-point play upped the lead to 25 points. However Galatasaray was not done yet. Buker and Wilkinson ignited a stalled offense as the hosts chipped away slowly at the huge Valencia lead. Wilkinson hit a crucial three, Rancik scored from the paint and the line and Buker added another triple as the crowd started to sing and the difference closed to 47-59. Rancik opened the fourth quarter with a slam only to see Nielsen match him. The crowd roared again as Wilkinson fed Rancik inside for a basket-plus-foul to cut the difference to 9. De Colo stepped up with a long jumper at the other end, but Buker went to the line and scored his 19th and 20th points to keep the home team’s momentum going. Wilkinson scored inside to make it 56-63. De Colo continued his heroics for Valencia with a clutch triple. Wilkinson scored inside again only to see De Colo drain another three. Perovic increased the lead to 11 only to see that Galatasaray was still fighting. Buker’s three kept the fans in ecstasy, but the unflappable Martinez sank a three from the top of the key and Nielsen went inside for a basket to make it 65-77. Buker’s magical night continued with a jumper, but Perovic came back with a slam. Jasaitis scored on the offensive glass and Wilkinson from the line to make it 71-79 with 1:11 to play. De Colo was fouled and sank 2 free throws. Rancik attacked the basket for a slam and Wilkinson made it a 6-point game with 29 seconds remaining, but there was not enough time left to complete a comeback. De Colo added 1 more from the line to seal a key road win that keeps Valencia strong in the Group J picture.