Limoges hammers Valencia, sends it to first loss of season
Limoges CSP took over midway through the third quarter and raced away from Valencia Basket for a stunning 72-92 victory on Tuesday. Valencia had been the lone undefeated team in major European basketball this season with 28 victories in both the Eurocup and Spanish League to start the season. The result came in Dusko Vujosevic’s first game on the Limoges sidelines and boosted the team to 1-2 in Last 32 Group I. Valencia shares the top spot in the group with EWE Baskest Oldenburg at 2-1. With the game tied at 54-54 late in the third quarter, Limoges’s defense denied the hosts a field goal for over seven minutes, in which time it soared to a 61-78 advantage and never looked back. Nobel Boungou-Colo scored 23 points on 5-of-5 three-point shooting to lead Limoges, which used its great three-point accuracy to overcome 18 turnovers. Will Daniels was 4 for 5 from downtown en route to 18 points, Ali Traore also scored 18, Heiko Schaffartzik added 13 and Bo McCalebb tallied 10 points and 6 assists. Bojan Dubljevic paced Valencia with 17 points and Justin Hamilton posted 12 points and 8 rebounds in defeat.
Romain Sato scored first for Valencia before Boungou-Colo nailed a three to put Limoges in front. A bucket followed by a three-point play from Traore and then a Schaffartzik triple pushed the Limoges lead to 9-15. Despite the best efforts of Sato, who had 8 points in the first eight minutes, a three by Daniels put the visitors up by 8. Guillem Vives beat the buzzer with a put-back to make it 15-21 after 10 minutes. A Vives triple and Dubljevic basket-plus-foul tied it at 21-21 early in the second quarter. The teams proceeded to trade points, but Valencia could not get ahead until John Shurna’s first basket made it 29-27 and Rafa Martinez added a three after that. McCalebb collected consecutive three-point plays as Limoges went ahead. His three-pointer made it a 5-point game, but Fernando San Emeterio knocked down a three and Hamilton tied it at 44-44 at the break.
Daniles opened the second half with a triple and then assisted Boungou-Colo to restore a 5-point cushion. After another Martinez triple, Hamilton tied it at 51-51 from the line. Schaffartzik and Hamilton traded triples, but then the Limoges defense held the hosts without a basket and to just 2 free throws in the final three minutes of the third quarter. In that time, Boungou-Colo, Matt Gatens and Daniels each hit threes for a 58-65 advantage. Dubljevic free throws closed the gap to 5, but Boungou-/colo scored the next 5 points in triggering a 1-13 blitz. Martinez finally scored Valencia’s first basket in seven minutes, but the damage was done; Limoges led 61-78. Schaffartzik’s third three stretched the lead into the 20s and Limoges cruised to a stunning victory.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Eurocupbasketball.com