Valencia to the Eighthfinals with big second half

Valencia Basket used a big third quarter to pull away to a big 64-84 road win at Telenet Ostend, and move on to the Eighthfinals. Valencia improved to 3-2 in Group O, and Ostend is 2-3, but Valencia qualifies with one game remaining due to a pair of head-to-head victories. Valencia was in front 37-39 at halftime, but Bojan Dubljevic and Justin Doellman led the third quarter charge that saw the visitors open 49-67 lead and pave the way to victory. Dubljevic paced Valencia with 26 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals. Doellman scored 17, and Rafa Martinez netted 12 in victory. Pierre Antoine Gillet netted 17 for Ostend, Ryan Thompson added 12, and Brent Wright 10 in defeat.

Gillet had a triple and a pair of layups on the offensive end, and a block on defense to help Ostend to en opening 11-3 lead. Bojan Dubljevic erased the deficit with a triple and a layup, and Sam Van Rossom nailed one from downtown helping Valencia tie the game, 15-15. The hosts finished the first quarter with 21-15 lead after Gregory Echenique scored a layup and Mateusz Ponitka a dunk. Veselin Petrovic hit a jumper to make it a 7-point game early in the second, but Justin Doellman scored a jumper, a layup and a triple for 25-25. Dubljevic put the visitors in front with a layup and a triple for 29-30, but Jean Salumu and Gillet nailed back-to-back threes for 37-32. However, Valencia finished the half with a 0-7 run, capped with a triple from Dubljevic for 37-39 halftime lead.

After the break, Romain Sato, Van Rossom and Dubljevic with a basket-plus-foul extended it to 37-46. After Ryan Thompson scored on the other end, Doellman started another Valencia run with a layup, and after more baskets from Dubljevic, Doellman capped it with a triple for 39-55. Thompson had a dunk, and Wilkinson a triple for Ostend, helping cut it to 46-58, but Martinez hit from downtown, and Oliver Lafayette hit back-to-back three-pointers to end the third quarter, extending it to 49-67. Dubljevic and Lafayette hit threes in the beginning of the fourth quarter for 53-73, and a pair of baskets from Doellman made it 55-79 midway through the fourth. With the winner clearly determined, Veselin Petrovic and Thompson cut into the deficit, and Gillet nailed a triple, but it was too little too late for Ostend as Sato rounded out the scoring.