The hosts set a club record for scoring in the win
Valencia remains perfect with blowout of Cedevita, 109-80
Valencia Basket used a strong second half to run past Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 109-80 on Tuesday night in the team's first home game since the horrific floods that hit the area two weeks ago. Valencia improved to 7-0 record atop Group B, while Cedevita lost its third straight, dropping to 4-4 on the season.
The key in the victory was the third quarter in which Valencia outscored Cedevita 31-10. Valencia had seven scorers in double figures, with Josep Puerto leading the way with 15. Xabi Lopez-Arostegui scored 14 points, Mathew Costello collected 13 points and 7 rebounds, Semi Ojeleye had 13 points plus 6 rebounds, and Nate Reuvers 12 points and 7 rebounds. Brancou Baio and Jean Montero each scored 11 in the victory. Devin Robinson netted 16 points for the visitors, Devante Jones 14, Aleksej Nikolic had 13 and Rok Radovic 11 points in defeat.
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Reuvers had a pair of baskets early, but a three-pointer from Jaka Blazic and a three-point play from Nikolic put the visitors in front 9-10. More baskets from Nikolic and Blazic opened an 11-16 lead, but Chis Jones had 5 points in his first action this season and a triple from Jaime Pradilla made it 21-18 after 10 minutes.
Cedevita scored the first 7 points on the second quarter with a three-point play from Robinson making it 21-25. But Montero and Ojeleye each nailed a triple and Ojeleye went coast-to-coast to restore a Valencia lead, 29-27. Robinson had another three-point play for the visitors, but Costello and Sergio De Larrea each made a triple before downtown shots from Puerto and Montero gave the hosts their first double-digit lead, 51-41. Robinson threw down a highlight-reel dunk and Nikolic another triple, helping Cedevita cut into the deficit and make it 57-50 at halftime.
Valencia stormed out of the gate in the second half with a 7-0 run in just 63 seconds, with Badio hitting a jumper and a triple and Costello adding a fastbreak dunk. Nikolic completed a three-pointer for the visitors, but it was all Valencia after that with Costello sinking another three before another 7-0 run sparked by Reuvers and capped by Puerto's three-pointer made it 74-55. After a timeout, Reuvers had another basket and a blocked shot, while back-to-back triples from Puerto and Lopez-Arostegui fueled an 8-0 run and helped extend it to 88-60 after 30 minutes.
Things slowed down in the fourth for Valencia, but the margin remained. Davante Jones had a three-pointer that cut it to 92-68, but the hosts replied with a 10-0 run, which featured three-pointers from Costello and Montero. The margin was as big as 107-72 in the final minutes as Valencia celebrated a big win.