Pedro Martinez's squad lit it up from deep to complete their comeback at Cluj
Valencia tied EuroCup record for three-pointers in Round 3 triumph
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Valencia Basket remained undefeated in Group B by downing U-BT Cluj-Napoca 96-105 in Round 3, tying an all-time BKT EuroCup record in the process.
The Spanish side buried 20 three-pointers on the night, becoming the third time to do so in competition history. UNICS Kazan was the first team to reach that mark, burying 20 three-pointers in a 101-76 home win against Besiktas Fibabank Istanbul on November 24, 2009. Most recently, LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne also made three-pointers in a triple-overtime instant classic against Dreamland Gran Canaria, grabbing a 128-129 victory on December 27, 2017.
Xabi Lopez-Arostegui buried 6-of-8 shots from downtown, including one at the buzzer, which allowed Valencia to set a new club – and EuroCup – record. Its best mark until tonight were the 19 three-pointers it hit in a 98-52 victory against Paris Levallois on November 19, 2013. Those 6 three-pointers made are also a career high for Lopez-Arostegui, who also had a personal-best PIR of 29.
"I think we were more focused and played with more pride in the second half to push from our offense and kept running," Lopez-Arostegui said. "In the end, we got the win because we played harder, like they did in the beginning, and scored the last shots."
In addition to the 6 triples converted by Lopez-Arostegui, Brancou Badio struck 4 times from beyond the arc, Jean Montero and Semi Ojeleye each hit 3 three-pointers, and Josep Puerto and Matt Costello sank 2 apiece.
Cluj led 42-25 midway through the fourth quarter and kept a 52-44 margin at halftime, outrebounding Valencia 23-11 until then. Valencia hit 12 second-half three-pointers, going 8 of 10 from downtown in the fourth quarter to complete a comeback victory.
"I think they played much better than us for a lot of minutes, with more energy and a better defense but we had good personality, shooting three-pointers with Matt Costello, with Xavi [Lopez-Arostegui]," Valencia head coach Pedro Martinez said afterward. "A lot of players believed that we could win and we have to be happy for this, but we have to think about what happened in the moments when we played with less energy than the other team."
Valencia outrebounded Cluj 13-18 in the second half and had 13 second-half assists compared to Cluj's 7. Its 105 points also tied for its third-best scoring mark in EuroCup history. Valencia had scored 108 points twice: against Ostend on November 12, 2002 (80-108) and against EWE Baskets Oldenburg on January 13, 2016 (89-108). Remember, Valencia scored 105 points against Veolia Hamburg Towers in Round 2 last week, too.
"If you look at a simple stats sheet, you will see that they scored 20 threes with 50% [shooting], something unbelievable," Cluj head coach Mihai Silvasan commented after the game. "They came into this game with very bad percentages, but we know they have valuable players that can score. This is something unbelievable for any team at any level, and I think that made the difference in the second half."