The Spanish side's unbeaten run in the EuroCup has come to an end
Lietkabelis stuns Valencia in OT, 106-107
7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys pulled off the shock of the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup season so far on Friday night by beating Valencia Basket 106-107 in overtime at La Fonteta. This was a rescheduled game from Round 6, as the initial matchup had to be postponed due to the severe floods in the Community of Valencia. Lietkabelis improved to a 4-8 record, while Valencia is now 11-1.
Oleksandr Kovliar had a night to remember for Lietkabelis with a career-high 25 points, while Martynas Varnas had a personal-best 21, Dovis Bickauskis 14, Georgios Kalaitzakis 13, and Danielius Lavrinovicius 12. Valencia had six players finish in double figures in points: Xabi Lopez-Arostegui (20), Semi Ojeleye (17), Nate Sestina (12), Jean Montero (11), Brancou Badio (11), and Josep Puerto (10).
Game Videos
Lietkabelis started the game the way it intended to go on, scoring the first 5 points of the night to take a 0-5 lead. Valencia soon came back into it and took an 11-10 advantage on the back of 5 points by Nate Sestina, but Lietkabelis went on a 7-0 run to go 11-17 ahead again. Both teams were scoring with relative ease, and it was 26-24 after 10 minutes.
Valencia led for the majority of the second quarter, only falling behind once at 33-34, after a triple by Bickauskis, and the hosts' advantage swelled to nine points at 48-39 after a 12-3 stretch in which Ojeleye scored 7 straight points. It became a double-digit ballgame soon after, with Badio opening a 14-point lead at 57-43, but Kovliar's basket ensured there was a 12-point difference, 57-45, at the interval.
Badio's three-pointer to open the third period restored a 14-point edge for Valencia, 59-45, then Puerto opened a game-high 16-point lead at 61-45 with a couple of free throws. But from that point on, Lietkabelis decided to step up in the face of adversity. Two of the visitors' players reeled off 13 straight points to make it a one-possession contest at 61-58, with Kovliar scoring 6 points in that stretch and Kalaitzakis netting 7. Kalaitzakis later made it 65-65, and a 10-0 Lietkabelis run to finish the quarter saw it take a 72-79 lead into the final frame.
Lietkabelis stayed in front for the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter, even if Valencia kept hitting back and making in a one-possession affair time and time again. It looked as though Lietkabelis's effort was not going to pay off when Ojeleye drained a couple of free throws and Lopez-Arostegui converted a three-point play to put Valencia back in front at 97-95, but Kovliar had a chance to win it after being fouled on a three-point shot by Lopez-Arostegui with just over one second left on the clock. In the end, Kovliar missed his first free throw but hit the following two, setting a 97-97 score and forcing the extra session.
It was Valencia which struck first in overtime, with Lopez-Arostegui making a couple of free throws, before Varnas returned the favor down the other end. Free throws were the order of the day through the first two and a half minutes, but Badio's triple with 2:17 minutes left gave Valencia a 104-101 edge. Varnas made more free throws, then Bickauskis scored a high-arcing layup to put Lietkabelis 104-105 ahead. Lopez-Arostegui responded in kind for the hosts, but Gabrielius Maldunas became the hero with a clutch layup with 16.7 seconds remaining, which proved to be the last score of the game.