Valencia shot a blistering hot 72.4% on two-pointers while also burying 42.3% on three-pointers and connecting on 23 of 28 free throws (82.1%), compared to 17-of-21 shooting from the foul line for Bourg. 

Telling numbers: Valencia's efficiency on offense

Valencia totaled 29 assists - just 2 shy of the club’s EuroCup record set against Turk Telekom Ankara in November 2018. Bourg could not take advantage of hitting 52.2% on three-pointers and also committing only 8 turnovers. Bourg was also out-rebounded 31 to 24.

Post-Game Quotes: Valencia 98-95 Bourg


### Joan Penarroya, Valencia Basket
“Today was a game in which the offenses dominated the defenses. We started the game well and didn’t have many problems on offense. We knew how they wanted to defend. We had 29 assists and that showed that we shared the ball properly. And we were attacking good. But we had our problems on defense. We had many situations where the individual responsibilities were not taken. Still we have to say they played well and made important shots. We have to value this win because there are no easy opponents in this competition and we have to get ready for the next game.”



### Laurent Legname, Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse
“We played a good game, a tough game. Sure, we lost tonight, but offensively I think we played one of the best games this season. There was great ball movement, discipline, aggressiveness, intensity, balance inside and outside. When you score 95 points on the road, especially here, that is good. But tonight defensively we had a big problem. We didn’t start the game with aggressiveness or fight. We let Valencia get comfortable and gave them confidence. We lost here, but I am proud of my team because with some injuries and some other difficulties we never gave up. We stayed in the game. We made an effort. And we played a great game. We have an opportunity to improve and maybe win the next game.”



### Bojan Dubljevic, Valencia Basket
“It was a really tough, but really important game for us. The most important thing is getting the victory. For us, it’s tough because we are missing players and have a lot of injuries. We also didn’t have practice with the full roster. The most important thing is that we fight and we win the games.”


Valencia Basket survived an offensive spectacle in defeating Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse 98-95 at home in yet another tight battle. Valencia wasted a 13-point lead but collected the win thanks to some late-game heroics from Sam Van Rossom to move to 3-2. 

Valencia prevails in offensive spectacle with Bourg, 98-95

Since Valencia’s 10-point season-opening win versus Promitheas Patras, Coach Joan Penarroya’s team lost twice by one point and won by a single point before the three-point win over Bourg. Xabi Lopez-Arostegui paced five Valencia players in double figures with 18 points while Jaime Pradilla and Jasiel Rivero both scored 16 points, Klemen Prepelic tallied 15 points and Bojan Dubjlevic chipped in 13 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Bourg dropped to 1-5 despite outstanding showings from Rasheed Sulaimon, who had 25 points; and CJ Harris, who collected 24 points. JaCorey Williams netted 16 points and Axel Julien 14 in the defeat. 

Dubljevic opened the game with a three-pointer for Valencia, which was up 7-0 before Alexandre Chassang finally got Bourg on the scoreboard after nearly 2 minutes. Julien hit 2 three-pointers for the guests but Dubjlevic had 5 points and an assist and the home side was up 18-11. A Louis Labeyrie score increased the margin to 22-13 and Valencia led 24-17 after 10 minutes. 

Hayden Dalton started the second quarter with a three-pointer for Bourg only to see Prepelic and Lopez-Arostegui both make triples and Labeyrie convert a four-point play for Valencia and a 34-25 cushion. Chassang managed to trim the gap to 36-31, but that just woke up the Valencia attack, especially Lopez-Arostegui with 2 three-pointers among his 8 points in a 10-2 run to lead 46-33. Bourg was not impressed and Sulaimon connected on a three-pointer and Harris converted an and-one and the guests were within 48-43. The score was 50-43 at the break. 

Harris opened the second half with a three-pointer with youngsters Pradilla and Josep Puerto answering for a 54-48 lead. Bourg was not ready to give up with Julien, Harris and Sulaimon all draining threes to knot the game 61-61. Julien’s next triple gave Bourg its first lead of the game, 63-64. Sulaimon added 4 more points and the cushion was 66-68. Valencia pulled back ahead on a Prepelic three-pointer but it was Bourg up after 30 minutes 70-71 thanks to Dalton’s tip-in.

The opening minutes of the final frame saw a real back and forth with five lead changes and three ties before Van Rossom’s three-pointer and Rivero’s three-point play made it 82-75 with 6 minutes left. Another Lopez-Arostegui triple pushed the gap to 87-79. Bourg would not go away with Harris and Williams cutting the gap to 4, but Rivero twice answered inside and the lead was 93-87 with 2 minutes left. Sulaimon knocked down a big three-pointer and a Williams layup cut the margin to 93-92. Van Rossom punched back with a massive three-pointer only to see Harris twice go to the foul line, converting the first 3 foul shots but missing the last with 22 seconds for a 96-95 score. Van Rossom stepped up again with 2 free throws with 18 seconds to play. Harris was unable to hit the three-pointer at the buzzer and Valencia escaped. 

Sam Van Rossom is one of the long-time faces of Valencia and the veteran stepped up when it counted. 

Pivotal performer: Van Rossom shows up big late

He hit a massive three-pointer with 1:16 minutes left and then drained both free throws with 18 seconds remaining to make sure Bourg needed a three-pointer to tie the game. Van Rossom finished with 8 points with 2 three-pointers and 2 free throws. He also grabbed 2 rebounds and dished out a team-high 6 of 29 assists. 

Lietkabelis Panevyzis entered this game with a solid reputation as a good rebounding team. It had enjoyed an average rebounding advantage of 9.3 per game and was third in the competition in offensive rebounds with 12.5 per game.

By the numbers: Partizan won the rebounding battle

Even though it lived up to the expectations and grabbed 10 offensive boards and made 22 points from them - compared to Partizan’s 14 from 13, it was outrebounded by Partizan 38-28. Securing the glass was one of the crucial points Lietkabelis’s head coach pointed out as a crucial factor after the game, and nobody would dare to doubt that statement when it comes from the losing side.

Partizan NIS Belgrade v Lietkabelis Panevezys (2021-11-17T19:30:00.000Z)

Despite finishing with 14 threes on 34 attempts (41.2%), Lietkabelis Panevyzis fell short in the end and couldn’t cap a late rally that got it within 80-77 with less than 2 minutes to go. The visitors survived several runs by Partizan, trailing by double-digit disadvantages several times into the game. 

Three-point shooting wasn’t enough for Lietkabelis

Each time the hosts tried to escape, Lietkabelis found a timely answer from behind the arc. Four three-pointers in a row helped the guests make up for a 30-20 first-half score and reach halftime down 39-38. Later, when its opponent built a 73-60 early in the last period, back-to-back threes by Kalaitzakis and Orelik kept the game alive. And, when Glas made it 80-71 in the final stage, Radicevic and Orelik made it a one-possession game entering crunch time. Unfortunately for Lietkabelis, the last two attempts from deep, which could have tied the game, didn’t go in and opened the door for Partizan’s victory.

Post-Game Quotes: Partizan 84-77 Lietkabelis


### Zeljko Obradovic, Partizan NIS Belgrade
"We played very well in some periods. We easily took a 10-point advantage, but we also gave them opportunities to return to the game. The whole match was marked by ups and downs. That's the problem we have, I insist on concentration, but sometimes we don't understand how we want to play defense. We were ready for their three-point shots and we knew they were shooting 28 three-pointers per game. Tonight it was more than average, 34, but still an important victory. Congratulations to the players on an important victory and to the fans who came tonight to support us."



### Nenad Canak, Lietkabelis Panevezys
"Congratulations to Partizan for the win. If you want a win against teams like Partizan, you can't play with empty periods and black minutes, like we did a few times. I am satisfied that we did not give up during the whole game and we fought until the end. We didn't make our shots, but that is basketball. We lost the rebounding battle for the first time in the current season of the 7DAYS EuroCup. They had 10 rebounds more than us and it was crucial for tonight's game."



### Zach Leday, Partizan NIS Belgrade
"Not every game is easy, we came out to fight, they made some shots. That’s what they do, they shoot the ball very well. We were able to get some stops and win the game, so that’s what matters. Every victory is important, every win counts to the end and we want to try to fight for a big goal, so we have to keep taking one step at a time and keep getting better."


Partizan NIS Belgrade bounced back from its first loss of the season last week by holding off visiting Lietkabelis Panevyzis 84-77 at Stark Arena on Wednesday night. Even though the hosts were never behind and enjoyed double-digit margins several times after halftime, they needed to wait till the last minute to celebrate a victory that lifted their record to 4-1. 

Partizan outlasts Lietkabelis, 84-77

Zach LeDay led six Partizan scorers in double figures with 19 points. Alen Smmailagic posted a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds for a PIR of 20, all of them career-best. Gregor Glas also scored 13, Aleksa Avramovic and Bolsa Koprivica provided 12 each and Kevin Punter poured in 11, including the decisive bucket with 12 seconds to go. Gedeminas Orelik paced Lietkabelis with 19 points, followed by Kaspars Berzins and Kristupas Zemaitis, who scored 12 apiece. Vytenis Lipkevicius flirted with a triple-double as he posted 7 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists for the visitors, who dropped to 2-3.

Defense prevailed over offense in the early going as only Punter managed to score in the opening 2 minutes. LeDay took over to run the show for Partizan, scoring a couple of buckets and feeding Avramovic for a three that made it 11-5 midway through the first quarter. LeDay kept rocking and contributed a pair of free throws and a corner three to boost the lead to 16-8. Lietkabelis found some relief in offense from long distance, as Zemaitis hit his team's first triple. Punter added 2 free throws to make it 20-11, but Partizan remained scoreless for 2 minutes. Berzins helped the guests with another three to close the first quarter at 20-14. 

Berzins kept on rolling early in the second, as he nailed another three and blocked Dallas Moore to allow Lietkabelis to stay sewed to the game, 20-17. Punter stepped up with 5 points in a row to cool it down for Partizan, which led 25-17 after 13 minutes. Glas made it a double-digit margin from behind the arc, 30-20, as the visitors were unable to build momentum on offense. Zemaitis and Orelik showed up with back-to-back triples to try to change the trend, but Partizan found a timely answer from Glas, who drilled back-to-back threes that forced an urgent timeout by Lietkabelis at 36-26. Orelik and Zemaitis extended the three-point trend with one each. Berzins followed with a couple of free throws to bring the visitors within 36-34 and Maldunas made it even tighter, 39-38, to send the game to the locker room.

Partizan stepped up on defense after the break, allowing just 2 points in four minutes, for a 10-2 run capped by a monster put-back slam by Koprivica that restored a safe margin for the hosts, 50-40. Avramovic and Koprivica combined to dig it deeper, 54-42, but Lietkabelis refused to surrender so early. Orelik scored a bucket and Kalaitzakis took advantage of an offensive rebound to drill a three that Zemaitis followed with another of his own to get the visitors within 54-50. A 9-3 run for the home team seemed to abort the rally, but Maldunas and Orelik combined to keep Lietkabelis in the game, 66-60, entering the last period.

Partizan came up strong when the game resumed, sparking a 7-0 run behind buckets by Smailagic, Glas and Moore to try to escape, 73-60, with 8 minutes remaining. Kalaizakis found a triple right after a Lietkaelis timeout, but those were the only points in the game for a couple of minutes. Partizan’s struggles on offense were exploited by Orelik, who got the visitors within 73-66 midway through the quarter. Avramovic ended the drought from the line and Smailagic hit from deep to help the hosts stay calm, 78-69. A long three by Radicevic, followed by another one from the corner by Orelik took the game to the line once again, 80-77, entering crunch-time. Orelik and Radicevic had the chance to tie the game in the last minute, but missed one triple each that allowed Punter to score a decisive floater with 12 seconds to go to seal the outcome.

Even though Partizan never trailed in the game, it didn’t feel safe for a single moment as Lietkabelis never surrendered and took the game to the wire in the last period. The hosts dominated all game long thanks to a solid contribution by several players.

Punter takes over to finish the job

Six out of the eight players Coach Zeljko Obradovic used during the contest scored in double-figures, allowing the hosts to have a good balance and find different solutions on offense. Zach LeDay had 19, Alen Smailagic 14 and Aleksa Avramovic and Balsa Koprivica scored 12 each, but the one who had the final decision was the one that scored the least of that group. Kevin Punter was the first one to get a bucket in the game and was the chosen one to close it when he solved a one-on-one situation with a contested floater that made it 82-77 with 12 seconds to play. 