Valencia fends off Prague for second win

Host U18 Valencia Basket made it two wins in two games at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Qualifier Valencia with a 60-70 victory over U18 USK Future Stars Prague. Alejandro Ruiz scored 19 points to lead Valencia, which remained undefeated in Group A while Guillem Ferrando added 16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Prague dropped to 0-2 in the group despite Matej Burda scoring 15 points, Kristian Kocab picking up 13, David Bohm chipping in 12 points and Martin Svoboda adding 9 points and 10 rebounds.

The game was even 5-5 when Valencia used a 2-9 run to open its first bigger lead at 7-14. Kocab hit 4 points at the other end to keep Prague close, trailing 15-20 after 10 minutes. An Ivan Cubero three-pointer increased the advantage to 19-26. Bohm, who scored 29 points in the first game, finally scored his first points with 2 minutes left in the first half and added a three-pointer to cut the gap to 26-28. But it was Valencia up 27-31 at the break. Prague was sticking close thanks to a Marek Vyroubal three-point play and it was 40-44. But Ferrando connected from long range and converted a three-point play in a 2-10 surge to go up 42-54. And the gap was 44-54 after 30 minutes. Valencia started the fourth quarter with a three-point play from Alfonso Ribera and Ferrando’s third three-pointer helped open the gap to 48-62 with 5 minutes left in the final frame. Prague did not have any surge left and did not get closer than 10 points the rest of the way.