Despite recording its second-lowest scoring output of the season, Valencia claimed another win
Valencia bested Cedevita on the road, 66-72
Valencia Basket is one win far from securing the best record in the BKT EuroCup Regular Season after defeating Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 66-72 at Arena Stozice on Tuesday night. The visitors had to overcome a 15-0 run early in the first period and needed to wait till the last quarter to earn a game-high 56-63 advantage that Josep Puerto converted into a win with back-to-back threes late in the game.
Valencia improved to 15-2 and can secure home-court advantage throughout the postseason if it wins or Bahcesehir College Istanbul loses in Round 18, while Cedevita dropped to 10-7, but still could confirm a playoff berth this week depending on Wednesday’s results.
Puerto led all Valencia scorers with 13 points, followed by Chris Jones and Xavi Lopez-Arostegui, who provided 12 and 10, respectively. Brynton Lemar paced Cedevita with 14 points, Devin Robinson recorded a double-double of 12 points and 12 boards, DJ Stewart did the same with 11 and 12, while Aleksej Nikolic scored 11 in the losing effort.
Game Videos
Despite Nate Sestina opening fire from deep, the hosts showed great energy in the early going and went on a 13-0 run with all starters scoring to force the first timeout by Valencia. Cedevita went a little bit further with a basket by Stewart to earn a 15-3 edge, but the visitors rapidly found offensive momentum when Jones and Brancou Badio teamed up. Five points by the former launched Valencia and 5 more by Puerto brought the visitors within 18-17 after 8 minutes. Stefan Jovic completed the comeback with an extraordinary offensive move to close the first quarter with Valencia enjoying its first lead of the game, 20-21.
Jovic opened fire in the second with another bucket, as the offensive woes continued for the home side, due to several turnovers and missed free throws. But Cedevita didn’t step back and built on defense, stopping Valencia’s scorers from getting momentum, as Joan Beringer and Lemar combined to return the lead to the hosts, 24-23. Both teams swapped leads and the game had several ties until Lemar made it 32-29 with a corner three-pointer. Puerto came to the rescue to minimize the disadvantage to 32-31, but missed a buzzer-beating three that allowed Cedevita to lead at halftime.
Semi Ojeleye and Nikolic traded three-pointers soon after the game resumed, as both teams based their offenses on long-range shooting, but with no big success except those. Robinson rose with a monster dunk and a smooth jumper to keep Cedevita ahead, but Valencia didn’t lose track and remained close, 41-40, midway through the third quarter. A three-point play by Sestina after a TV timeout brought the lead back the visitors, 41-43, but Cedevita managed to stay calm using the free-throw line and offensive rebounding. Ojeleye hits his second from behind the arc to make it 47-48, but Beringer kept the hosts up at the end of the third period with a dunk, 49-48.
Valencia geared up early in the fourth, as Ojeleye hit again from deep and Jaime Pradilla capped a fastbreak with a slam to boost Valencia to a 49-53 edge and force a Cedevita timeout after only 1:18. Stewart and Robinson took over then, helping the hosts ahead 56-55. Another spurt, this time coming from Lopez-Arostegui and Jones, switched the lead again, and set a game-high 7-point difference for Valencia, 56-63, with 4 minutes to play. Stewart and Lemar brought Cedevita within one possession right after the timeout, but the hosts couldn’t do anything against Puerto, who chained together a couple of triples to make it 63-69 with less than 100 seconds to go. Nikolic hit a long three to keep Cedevita alive, but consecutive misses by Stewart and Lemar allowed Badio and Costello to seal the outcome, 66-72.