Valencia routs Nancy in Eurocup return

Valencia Basket made its return to the Eurocup a successful one with a 77-46 rout of SLUC Nancy on Tuesday in the opening game of the Last 32 stage. The hosts started the game with 13 unanswered points and put it away for good with a 16-0 third-quarter charge. Valencia outrebounded the visitors 42-29, forced them into 17 turnovers and limited them to 2-of-12 shooting (16.7%) from behind the arc. Romain Sato scored 10 of his team-high 13 points in the first quarter for the winners, while Luke Harangody posted 10 points and 10 rebounds, Bojan Dubljevic also scored 10 and Sam Van Rossom totaled 7 points and 8 assists. Keydren Clark led Nancy with 12 points and Ryan Reid added 8. Nancy big man Florent Pietrus, who won the 2010 Eurocup with Valencia, was honored by the home team before tip off.

Van Rossom nailed a three on the game’s first possession, Sato added two more as he scored the next 8 points and Harangody’s tip-in capped a 13-0 run to start the game. Vaughn Duggins finally scored Nancy’s first basket with a layup after more than five and a half scoreless minutes. Ryan Reid added a second Nancy basket and Valentin Bigote a third, but Van Rossom gave the hosts a 19-6 lead after 10 minutes. Pietrus and Reid brought the visitors within 21-10 and a Clark triple made it a 10-point game. Pau Ribas and Dubljevic kept Valencia in control despite a pair of baskets from Clark and Reid. Maxime Zianveni narrowed the gap to 29-21 with his first basket. Despite a series of free throws from Vladimir Lucic – who was fouled shooting behind the arc – and Serhiy Lishchuk, Zianveni closed the gap to 8 twice more. Pablo Aguilar’s three-pointer left Valencia ahead 39-27 at halftime.

Pietrus scored from the line and with a put-back to again get Nancy’s deficit to a single digit. However back-to-back threes from Sato and Harangody started another Valencia run. Van Rossom fed Lucic and then scored after his own steal. Kreso Loncar netted the next 4 points and Rafa Martinez drilled a jumper to complete a 16-0 charge that made it 57-32. Clark ended the Nancy drought, but free throws by Martinez and Lucic kept the hosts rolling. Clark’s steal and layup made it 61-36 through three quarters. Aguilar and Dubljevic extended the difference to 29 early in the fourth quarter. Clark, Duggins and Bigote peppered the offense for Nancy, but the visitors never made a serious run late in the game. The hosts scored the final 6 points of the game to take their biggest lead on Harangody free throws that made the final margin 31 points.