Pamesa Valencia punched its ticket to the Last 16 with a 79-89 win at Artland Dragons on Tuesday. Pamesa improved to 4-0 as all five starters scored in double figures. The visitors led from start to finish, using a 0-13 run to build an 18-point lead by the end of the first period. The Dragons narrowed the lead to 35-42 by halftime and to just 4 points in the third quarter, but Shammond Williams and Rafa Martinez pushed Pamesa's lead back up to 17. One last Artland charge made it 5 with three minutes remaining, but big men Kosta Perovic and Matt Nielsen stepped up to ice the win. Ruben Douglass finished with 27 points on 7-for-12 three-point shooting to lead the winners. Perovic added 16 points, Nielsen had 14, Williams 12 and Martinez 10. Williams also dished 6 assists. Darren Fenn paced Artland with 23 points, Adam Hess added 15, Madrich 10 and Will Blalock dished 7 assists in defeat.

Pamesa went down low to Perovic on the first possession and came away with a pair of free throws and then Douglass rifled in a three to set the stage for the visitors. Chad Prewitt and Lamont McIntosh got Artland going, but it would be short lasted. Pamesa took the game by the horns as Perovic and Douglas each scored twice more in a 0-13 charge that made it 4-18. Hess tried to spark his team with a three only to see Douglass add 2 more from downtown as the visitors built a 10-18 lead by the end of the first quarter. Triples by Drew Neitzel and McIntosh ignited the hosts’s spirit and the Fenn shined a 13-4 run to finish the half that made it 35-42 at the break. Prewitt buried a three that made it 40-44 early in the third quarter, but soon regained control thanks to Williams, who gave the visitors a double-digit lead. Martinez scored some big buckets to push the lead to 17, but the Dragons made one last charge in the fourth quarter and cut the lead to 75-80 on a Madrich triple with three minutes to play. However Perovic and Nielsen stepped up down the stretch to put the game away.