2018-19FinalsGame 3
Valencia Basket 89
ALBA Berlin 63
April 15, 2019 CET: 20:30
Local time: 20:30 LA FONTETA

Valencia routs ALBA for record fourth EuroCup crown

Valencia Basket is the 2018-19 7DAYS EuroCup champion! Valencia Basket made the most out its home-court advantage by downing ALBA Berlin 89-63 in front of a sellout crowd at Pabellon Fuente de San Luis in Game 3 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Finals on Monday. Valencia won its fourth EuroCup title, twice as many as any other team in competition history, and earned the right to play in the 2019-20 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. The Spanish powerhouse had previously won the competition in 2003, 2010 and 2014. Matt Thomas knocked down 5 three-pointers en route to 19 points to pace the winners. Bojan Dubljevic posted 18 points and 8 rebounds, Fernando San Emeterio also scored 18 and Will Thomas netted 15 for the victors. Rokas Giedraitis led ALBA with 19 points and Peyton Siva netted 14 in defeat. Siva and Giedraitis fueled an 0-11 opening run, but Dubljevic and Matt Thomas came off the bench and cut ALBA's lead to 17-18 after 10 minutes. A 10-0 run that Will Thomas capped with a step-back three-pointer gave Valencia its first double-digit lead, 30-20. Will Thomas and Dubljevic pushed the hosts to a 46-33 halftime advantage. San Emeterio took over after the break, getting help from Will Thomas to boost Valencia's margin to 63-44 after 30 minutes. ALBA kept trying, but the Valencia fans had plenty of time to celebrate a truly historic night.

Martin Hermannsson got ALBA going with a mid-range jumper and Giedraitis hit a jump hook in an 0-11 run that Siva capped with a bomb from downtown. Valencia was held scoreless for almost 4 minutes until Fernando San Emeterio scored in penetration. Dubljevic added a put-back jump hook that Giedraitis bettered with a triple for a 4-14 ALBA margin. Matt Thomas nailed a corner three-pointer and got help from San Emeterio and Antoine Diot to bring the hosts even closer, 10-14. Dubljevic scored in the low post and Matt Thomas added a driving layup, but Siva and Tim Schneider kept ALBA ahead, 14-18. Thomas hit another one from beyond the arc to bring Valencia within 17-18 after 10 minutes. A three-pointer by Dubljevic gave Valencia its first lead, 20-18, early in the second quarter. Johannes Thiemann banked in a six-meter shot, but Matt Thomas and Will Thomas each struck from beyond the arc in a 10-0 run highlighted by a Dubljevic dunk for a 30-20 lead. Siva buried one from beyond the arc, but so did San Emeterio and Matt Thomas to break the game open, 36-23. An unstoppable Matt Thomas took over with a fast break layup and Will Thomas copied him right after that to make it 40-23. Siva buried a long three-pointer and a dunk by Giedraitis gave ALBA hope at 40-28. Giedraitis hit a triple after a Valencia timeout, but Will Thomas erased it with a layup-plus-foul and Dubljevic added one from beyond the arc. A layup by Dennis Clifford fixed the halftime score at 46-33.

Clifford downed a mid-range jumper immediately after the break, but San Emeterio quickly downed his trademark turnaround shot. Giedraitis hit another corner three-pointer only to see San Emeterio and Labyerie answer to keep Valencia fully in charge, 52-38. A big offensive rebound by Van Rossom allowed Sastre to strike from downtown and an unstoppable San Emeterio boosted the hosts' lead to 56-38. Will Thomas ignited the crowd with a backdoor slam. Siva and Landry Nnoko kept ALBA within 58-41. Aaron Doornekamp fired in a three-pointer and Tobey gave Valencia a new game-high margin, 62-41. Hermannsson struck from downtown to bring ALBA a bit closer, 63-44, after 30 minutes. Thiemann tried to ignite the visitors' comeback early in the fourth quarter, but Dubljevic quickly answered with back-to-back jump hooks for a 67-46 cushion. Giedraitis struck from beyond the arc, but Will Thomas scored again and a three-pointer by San Emeterio sealed the outcome at 72-49 with over 6 minutes left. Dubljevic hit an off-balance shot and even though Giedraitis nailed another three-pointer, he didn't find much help around. Meanwhile, San Emeterio dunked in traffic and Matt Thomas buried a three-pointer that boosted his team's lead to 81-56. ALBA had a bitter end to a fantastic EuroCup season, but in the final game of the season, Valencia showed its best version and cruised to its fourth EuroCup title.

Pivotal performer

Dubljevic came off the bench and delivered an outstanding performance – 18 points on 6-of-7 two-point shooting, 2-of-3 from downtown, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 fouls drawn for a performance index rating of 27 – in less than 24 minutes! The EuroCup's all-time leading scorer and rebounder lived up to the expectations and led Valencia to a historic win.

Game-changing moment

A jumper by Johannes Thiemann tied it at 20-20, but Valencia improved its defense. Meanwhile, Matt Thomas buried a three-pointer, Bojan Dubljevic ignited the crowd with a dunk, Joan Sastre added a floater and Will Thomas buried a step-back triple. All of a sudden, Valencia led 30-20 and had full control of the game.

Stellar stat

Valencia Basket needed 31 minutes to record its first steal in Game 2, but Game 3 was a completely different story. Valencia finished the game with 9 steals – 4 of which came from Antione Diot to tie the record for most in a EuroCup championship series game. ALBA was held to its lowest scoring output of the season (it had scored 66 against Partizan NIS Belgrade in the regular season) and its lowest team index rating, 59 (which had been 67 in Game 1 of this series).

Did you notice?

Rafa Martinez is the first player to win three EuroCup titles. Martinez won the competition with Valencia in 2010 and 2014. Van Rossom and Dubljevic are now two-time EuroCup champions, while all of the other Valencia players have won the competition for the first time.

Third time is the charm!

San Emeterio and Sastre won the EuroCup title in their third EuroCup Finals appearance. Both of them lost the EuroCup Finals with Valencia in 2017. San Emeterio reached the championship game with Akasvayu Girona in 2008 and Sastre made it to final with Cajasol Sevilla in 2011.

Valencia Basket champ - EuroCup Finals Game 3 - EC18
Monday, April 15, 2019
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: ROCHA, FERNANDO; MANTYLA, PETRI; NEDOVIC, MILAN
Attendance: 8014
By Quarter1234
Valencia Basket17291726
ALBA Berlin18151119
End of Quarter1234
Valencia Basket17466389
ALBA Berlin18334463
Valencia Basket
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
6 ABALDE, ALBERTO 3:17 3 0/2 1/1                 1 1   -1
7 LABEYRIE, LOUIS 17:42 4 2/2       7 7 2   1 1       13
8 DIOT, ANTOINE 17:47 2   0/3 2/2   5 5 7 4 2     3 2 12
9 VAN ROSSOM, SAM 18:18   0/1 0/3   1   1 4 1 1     3 2  
10 THOMAS, WILL 27:10 15 5/7 1/1 2/4   3 3 2   1 1   1 6 21
13 TOBEY, MIKE 11:22 1 0/2   1/2 3 1 4 1   1 2 2 4 1 -1
14 DUBLJEVIC, BOJAN 23:46 18 6/7 2/3 0/1 3 5 8 3   2     1 4 27
16 VIVES, GUILLEM 7:44     0/2         1     1        
19 SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO 22:43 18 3/5 2/2 6/8   2 2 2 1     1 1 6 23
21 THOMAS, MATT 28:01 19 2/5 5/7     1 1 3 2           20
30 SASTRE, JOAN 9:33 5 1/4 1/2                 1 2   -2
42 DOORNEKAMP, AARON 12:37 4   1/1 1/2   1 1   1 1     3 1 2
Team             3 3     1         2
Totals 200:00 89 19/35 13/25 12/19 7 28 35 25 9 10 5 5 19 22 116
        54.3% 52% 63.2%
Head coach: PONSARNAU, JAUME
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
ALBA Berlin
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 SAIBOU, JOSHIKO 7:00     0/3             1     1 1 -4
3 SIVA, PEYTON 26:05 14 1/4 3/8 3/4   3 3 4 1 1   1 2 4 13
5 GIFFEY, NIELS 24:12 2 1/4 0/1   2 3 5 3     1   2 2 7
10 SCHNEIDER, TIM 16:22 2 1/1 0/3     4 4 2 1       2   4
15 HERMANNSSON, MARTIN 24:17 5 1/2 1/5         2   2   1 2 2 -1
22 WAGNER, FRANZ 11:05           2 2           1   1
25 OGBE, KENNETH 4:12   0/1       1 1             1 1
31 GIEDRAITIS, ROKAS 26:55 19 2/3 5/6     3 3   1 3     4 2 16
32 THIEMANN, JOHANNES 11:23 6 2/3   2/2 1 1 2     2     4 1 2
33 CLIFFORD, DENNIS 13:27 6 3/4       1 1   1 1 3   3   6
35 NNOKO, LANDRY 15:10 9 3/7   3/3 4   4   1     3   3 10
43 SIKMA, LUKE 19:52   0/2 0/3   2 6 8 4   5 1   1 3 5
Team             1 1     1          
Totals 200:00 63 14/31 9/29 8/9 9 25 34 15 5 16 5 5 22 19 60
        45.2% 31% 88.9%
Head coach: GARCIA RENESES, AITO

Head Coaches

PONSARNAU, JAUME
Valencia Basket
"First of all congratulation to ALBA Berlin. They played unbelievable. They played a great EuroCup. Their players have a big future; they have very big talent and they have unbelievable coaches and they will learn a lot from these coaches. Congratulations to Aito. I always learn a lot when I play against him or watch his games. And congratulations to Himar Ojeda, because he is making a big project. I want to give thanks to Juan Roig and his family because his mentality and his investment with this club gives us the opportunity to be competitive at this level. And special thanks to Paco Raga and Chechu Mulero because of their confidence in me to stay in this project as head coach. And very very special to [assistant coaches] Borja Comenge, Juan Maroto and Javi Vilaplana for their outstanding work preparing this team to be competitive at this level. And to Manu Capdevila, because he prepared this team with Julio for the physical work. They did a great job. I am very happy."
GARCIA RENESES, AITO
ALBA Berlin
"The first thing is to congratulate Valencia. They played a great game. The second thing is to tell you that I am proud of my team. I know our real potential and to be here and competing and winning one game in the finals is very good for us. And despite us being disappointed now, which is logical, we had an opportunity to win today, I know the potential we have and how difficult it is to be in this final. We played a whole season, not only this game."

Players

TOBEY, MIKE
Valencia Basket
"It feels amazing, especially the way we started the game. We were down 11 but fought hard and came back into the game. Our fans were great tonight and this is an unbelievable win. We talked before the game that we had to go out with the right mentality and fight until the end. We didn't let ourselves down after that 0-11 run. And now, it is time to enjoy the moment and celebrate."
VAN ROSSOM, SAM
Valencia Basket
"It feels great to win it again! It was a great series for everybody. We have to congratulate ALBA, they played a good series, but I think we just played great basketball tonight. We started badly, but after that, we were really solid during the rest of the game. We deserved to win and I am very happy. Will Thomas was a well-deserved MVP; he played great during the series, and in the entire season. I am very happy for him."
THOMAS, MATT
Valencia Basket
"There is so much joy and excitement, so much work has gone into this season and through all the ups and downs, we really showed our character tonight. starting off the game 0-11 and coming back and having this performance says a lot about our team and a lot about our leadership on this team. This is incredible. This has to be one of the best atmospheres in Europe. I'm just happy to be here and happy to be a part of this."
SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO
Valencia Basket
"We played a great game. We had a difficult start in the game, losing 0-11, but we kept fighting and playing together with these fans here and we won this tournament. We trust each other, we fight together, we controlled the rebounds and we ran. We held a big team like ALBA Berlin on 63 points; this is a great effort and great defense as a team. Next year we play in the EuroLeague and let's make a great season."
THOMAS, WILL
Valencia Basket
"Great feeling! It never gets old. Every time we win a championship, it's a great feeling. It's just a great feeling going around the team and everybody's happy, man! It hasn't been an easy season for us. We've had a few injuries, but guys kept on fighting, guys stepped up throughout the season to help us get to this point. I got [the MVP award] because of my teammates. They really believed in me and it just happened. I'm so happy!"
DUBLJEVIC, BOJAN
Valencia Basket
"I didn't expect a win like this, but we put everything on the court. We suffered a lot, but we put everything tonight in this game and we won. We are the EuroCup champions! I am so proud of this team, of these coaches, of these fans who supported us all these years, especially tonight. We are the champions, we are going to celebrate! We were down 0-11 but looked at each other in the eyes and started to play our game. In the end, we showed that we are a good team, the best team on the court."
CLIFFORD, DENNIS
ALBA Berlin
"Basketball is a game of runs and we could only expect them to answer to a run like that. But with that in mind, you have to keep up your intensity and especially since they are at home. They have a very strong crowd and the way they were playing today was unbelievable. For us, it is just hard to try to look back and try to think what we could have done better. We all played with high intensity, we played really hard."
THIEMANN, JOHANNES
ALBA Berlin
"I think the first couple of minutes, we played our game. The rest of the game, we didn't. We allowed their shooters to get open looks and they are a great team. I think people didn't think we would be able to get this far and even force a Game 3. So it hurts right now, but we can be proud that we made it so far."
SIVA, PEYTON
ALBA Berlin
"There is a reason why [Valencia] was 20-3 in the EuroCup this year. They are a very good team. We came out with a lot of energy, but they started knocking down shots, getting the ball into the paint and making our defense move. At the end of the day, it's very tough to play against a team that knocks down 12, 13 threes. We just have to learn from it, get better and move on. We faced a lot of adversity [this season], so it's really a blessing for us to even be in this position, especially with all the injuries we dealt with during the year. I'm very happy with the team and happy with the way we competed. We're a very young team and hopefully, we can just move forward."
No results found.