The Italian side had a 2-5 record in early November, but with five wins in the last six games, it has a winning record for the first time since the season opener
Reyer kept victories coming even against 11-win Valencia
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Umana Reyer Venice continued its climb up the standings, but its latest win - its first in 2025 - might be the most impressive of them all.
On Thursday night, Reyer downed first-place and playoff-bound Valencia Basket 81-74. The final score might not reveal how impressive of a performance it was, especially in the first half, before Valencia attempted a rally while Reyer slowed down the tempo, making sure Valencia could not go on a big run.
"Congrats to our players for an amazing effort", Reyer coach Neven Spahija praised his players. "We cannot ask for more than this."
Reyer's first half was probably a blueprint of how Spahija would like his team to play every time.
Up 52-30 after two quarters, Reyer outscored the team with the best record in all of the BKT EuroCup 31-12 in the second quarter. Before halftime, Reyer's defense forced 12 turnovers and held Valencia to 41.6% shooting on two-pointers and 33.3% on three-pointers.
"They played better than us, especially in the first half, with more energy and a better defense", Valencia head coach Pedro Martinez admitted to the EuroLeague TV cameras after the loss.
Reyer grabbed most of the loose balls, and protected the glass by allowing 5 offensive rebounds on 18 opportunities.
"We played a great game, solid from the first minute to the end", said shooting guard Davide Moretti, who was one of two main facilitators of all the good things Reyer did in the opening two quarters.
The first one was Mfiondu Kabengele, who opened the game by making all 3 of his two-point shots, and his only three-point attempts, all in the first quarter, to jump-start Reyer's offense. Then it was Moretti's turn in the second quarter. His back-to-back threes opened the first double-digit lead of the game, 31-21, and sparked a 14-1 run that had Reyer pull away and never look back.
And while Kabengele is a usual suspect when it comes to production, for Moretti this was his best game of the season as he netted 15 points, 11 of which came in the second quarter, as he shot 4-of-6 from downtown.
"We had a lot of difficulties in the last period, but the last two games we showed character and that's how we want to be the rest of the season", Moretti said, referring to a big number of injuries that have hit Reyer in the first part of the season.
But the team shook that off, and has now won five of its last six games, all after starting the season with a 2-5 record.
"We have a great team, full of talented guys", Moretti added. "We just got to stay focused, keep going, keep working together, and stay strong mentally."
That mentality will certainly be tested the rest of the regular season, as Reyer is in a dogfight for a spot in the playoffs. Valencia has all but locked up the first place, but Reyer is one of the teams fighting for the remaining five spots.
The last five rounds of the regular season, Reyer will have three home games, including those against direct playoff-chasing rivals U-BT Cluj Napoca and Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, while two remaining road games take Reyer to Hamburg next week, and then to Ankara to face Turk Telekom in the penultimate round.
On a winning run while sporting a healthier roster full of players capable of step up, like Moretti did on this night, Reyer is in a great position to secure playing postseason basketball once again.