2020-21Regular SeasonRound 24
Valencia Basket 105
CSKA Moscow 103
February 04, 2021 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 LA FONTETA

Valencia outlasts CSKA in double-OT to snap skid

Valencia Basket claimed a much-needed victory as it prevailed 105-103 in a thrilling double-overtime win at home over CSKA Moscow to end a losing skid. Nikola Kalinic scored the game-winning layup with 44 seconds left as Valencia snapped a three-game losing streak to move to 12-12. Kalinic and Klemen Prepelic led the way with 22 points, Martin Hemannsson poured in 17 points and Bojan Dubljevic pitched in 14 points and 12 rebounds in the win. A career-high 37 points from Mike James in his return from suspension were not enough for short-handed CSKA, which dropped its fourth game in the last five to fall to 16-8. Johannes Voigtmann had 19 points and 9 rebounds, Nikita Kurbanov tallied 17 points and Joel Bolomboy contributed 10 points.

With CSKA missing both Nikola Milutinov and Toko Shengelia, Bolomboy started for the first time since Round 4 and he had an immediate impact with a dunk to start the game and a block for a 0-4 lead. Vanja Marinkovic’s three-pointer evened the game and Dubljevic’s three-point play gave the hosts their first lead at 7-6. Hermannsson and Marinkovic were able to drive to the basket for layups as CSKA’s perimeter defense struggled early. Then Kalinic and Prepelic made three-pointers in the final 45 seconds for a 25-17 lead after 10 minutes. Valencia’s hot shooting continued in the second quarter with 2 three-pointers each by Hermannsson and Prepelic extending the advantage to 39-24. James and Bolomboy did all they could to keep CSKA close. Voigtmann and Kurbanov nailed back-to-back triples and the margin was down to 43-38. Kalinic countered with a three-point play, but a Daniel Hackett triple trimmed the deficit to 47-43 at the break.

Marinkovic opened the second half with a three-pointer to push the gap to 50-43, but the CSKA charge continued with James and Voigtmann hitting from deep in a 2-10 surge to move ahead 52-53. Valencia temporarily went back up only to see James and Janis Strelnieks drain triples, 56-61. Valencia called for a timeout and finished the third quarter on an 8-2 spurt with Dubljevic and Prepelic both hitting three-pointers for a 64-63 lead after 30 minutes. After Strelieks opened the fourth-quarter scoring, Valencia got a triple from Prepelic and a three-point play from Dubljevic to move ahead 72-65. Strelnieks countered with a three-pointer to start a 2-9 spurt to even the game 74-74. Louis Labeyrie knocked down a pair of triples for Valencia and Kalinic’s layup made it 82-79 only to have Kurbanov knot the game again at 82-82 with a three-pointer. James’s 2 fouls shots with 33 seconds were matched by a dunk by Mike Tobey with 24 seconds to play. The game was sent to overtime when Sam Van Rossom got his hand on James’s attempt to win the game with a three-pointer just before the buzzer.

James’s free throw started the extra session with Tobey scoring a layup and one of two foul shots for an 87-85 lead. CSKA delivered a 0-6 punch to go up 87-91 only to see Kalinic score 5 straight points and Valencia led 94-93 with just more than a minute left. The lead switched hands again on James’s free throws and then Hermannsson hit just one of two foul shots with 6.4 seconds to play to send the game to a second overtime at 95-95. The second overtime started with a Voigtmann three-point play and it was 101-103 after Van Rossom and James swapped three-pointers. Dubljevic evened the game with two free throws and then Kalinic drove by Voigtmann for the eventual game-winning layup with 44 seconds to play. James would end up missing 2 three-pointers as Valencia grabbed the win.

Hermannsson's rare miss

Martin Hermannsson had a chance to win the game in the first overtime for Valencia, but he made just 1 of 2 free throws with 6.4 seconds left. That snapped a run of 27 straight made free throw attempts for the Valencia guard.

Second 2OT game of 2020-21

The Valencia and CSKA thriller was just the second game this EuroLeague season to go to two overtimes. Real Madrid beat Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 93-97 on the road in two overtimes in Round 14 in mid-December.

Telling numbers

Valencia dominated the glass with a 53-39 advantage including 22 offensive rebounds, which the team turned into 24 second-chance points compared to just two for CSKA. Valencia also held CSKA to just 32.5% on three-pointers.

Next games

After a week without EuroLeague games due to national cup competitions, both teams return to action in Round 25 on Friday, February 19. Valencia hosts Spanish rival Real Madrid. CSKA will at home against Panathinaikos OPAP Athens.

Nikola Kalinic - Valencia Basket - EB20
Thursday, February 4, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: PUKL,SASA; ZAMOJSKI, JAKUB; RADOJKOVIC, JOSIP
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234Extra 1Extra 2
Valencia Basket252217201110
CSKA Moscow17262021118
End of Quarter1234Extra 1Extra 2
Valencia Basket2547648495105
CSKA Moscow1743638495103
Valencia Basket
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 MARINKOVIC, VANJA 23:07 8 1/3 2/4     2 2 1 1 1   1 3   3
3 PREPELIC, KLEMEN 32:16 22 1/3 5/13 5/7 2 5 7 6 1 3     4 6 23
4 PRADILLA, JAIME DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 PUERTO, JOSEP 2:08                   1         -1
7 LABEYRIE, LOUIS 28:02 8 1/2 2/4   1 6 7 1 1 2 1     1 14
9 VAN ROSSOM, SAM 31:21 5 0/4 1/5 2/2 1 1 2 5 1 4 1   3 2 1
10 TOBEY, MIKE 20:23 9 4/5 0/1 1/2 3 4 7 1 1     1 4 1 11
12 KALINIC, NIKOLA 39:30 22 7/10 1/3 5/6 3 2 5 3   3     3 5 23
14 DUBLJEVIC, BOJAN 28:07 14 3/6 1/2 5/8 6 6 12 2 2 2   2 3 6 22
21 WILLIAMS, DERRICK 15:47   0/1 0/2     2 2 2 1 1     1    
24 HERMANNSSON, MARTIN 29:19 17 4/7 2/4 3/4 2 1 3 2 2 1   1 2 5 19
45 FERRANDO, GUILLEM DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 250:00 105 21/41 14/38 21/29 20 30 50 23 10 18 2 5 23 26 118
        51.2% 36.8% 72.4%
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
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 BOLOMBOY, JOEL 29:56 10 4/4   2/2 1 3 4 1   2 2   5 2 12
4 KHOMENKO, ALEXANDER 0:04                         1   -1
5 JAMES, MIKE 40:08 37 7/12 4/15 11/13 1 2 3 7 4 6   1 2 7 31
6 HILLIARD, DARRUN 6:32 2   0/1 2/2   1 1           2 1 1
7 UKHOV, IVAN 8:48     0/2         1 1       2   -2
10 HACKETT, DANIEL 43:15 8 0/3 2/4 2/2 3 3 6 4 1 2   1 2 8 17
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 19:01 2 1/3 0/2   1 2 3       1   3   -1
13 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 21:32 8 1/2 2/4     1 1 1         3 1 5
17 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 42:19 19 5/5 2/7 3/3 1 8 9 4   1 1   2 2 27
20 KOCHERGIN, DANIIL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 38:25 17 3/4 3/5 2/3   4 4 3 1 2 1   4 2 18
Team           2 2 4     2         2
Totals 250:00 103 21/33 13/40 22/25 9 26 35 21 7 15 5 2 26 23 109
        63.6% 32.5% 88%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

PONSARNAU, JAUME
Valencia Basket
"We started the game very well. We started with energy and had a good feeling - both on offense and defense. We had to control their main players as a team because our best guard defenders were injured. We had a very good first half but a few plays at the end of the second quarter allowed them to close the gap. After halftime, we improved the level on defense and we played well on offense and shared the ball. We did have problems to play our game on offense. But I think when we solved the problems on offense we played smart and with heart. We found a way to stay in the game.”
ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
"I would like to congratulate my team for the passion and the energy we put on the court. Despite the obstacles we were facing, the game was close. Congratulations to Valencia because eventually, they won. It could have gone differently. It would have also been a fair result if we would have won that game. I don’t want to analyze the small details - or big details. Overall, we’re happy because we fought. We wanted to win that game. But sometimes it doesn’t go your way. But we’re determined that we’re getting out of this situation that we’ve been in - as a team, as a unit and we’re going to grow more. We’re on a good way."

Players

KALINIC, NIKOLA
Valencia Basket
"It was a great win for us. Two overtimes, it was a really amazing game. We are a little disappointed we lost the last couple of games and we weren’t at the same level of energy and focus. But okay, maybe this is a turnaround. We got an incredible victory. Everybody played great and gave 100 percent. Game by game, who knows. Even though CSKA had some injury problems, I still think they are an amazing team with amazing individuals and a great coach. But the past is behind us and we will try to enter the game and fight as hard as we can."
PREPELIC, KLEMEN
Valencia Basket
"CSKA is not a team you want when you are looking to get back on the winning track. It’s true they are missing some players with injuries, but we are too. The game was tough. Obviously, 50 minutes is not easy to play against one of the most talented individual teams. But we managed to pick up the win. It was very important for us. We know what the goal was since the beginning of the season: to get to the top eight. We are trying to achieve that. If we want to be in those spots, we need to win these kinds of games, especially if we had a couple of games that we shouldn’t have lost."