Valencia evades Reyer challenge with 86-80 home win

Valencia Basket rallied from double-digit leads in each half to finally hold off visiting Umana Reyer Venice by 86-80 and solidify its second place in Group B. Valencia improved to 11-4, tied on victories with first-place Gran Canaria, while Reyer fell to 7-7 and sixth place despite leading for most of the game.

Regular Season

Round 15 of 18

game Umana Reyer Venice vs Valencia Basket

Regular Season

group b

Valencia BasketVBC

8680

Umana Reyer VeniceURV

group b

Overview

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Klemen Prepelic led Valencia with 19 points and Jasiel Rivero added 15. Jaime Pradilla and Martin Hermannsson, who hit key late three-pointers, had 11 each. And Valencia captain Bojan Dubljevic was everywhere at the end, finishing with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Reyer's Jordan Theodore saw his career highs of 25 points and 28 performance index rating spoiled with the ending. Michael Bramos followed him with 14 points, while Mitchell Watt had 12 and Austin Day 10.

A pair of triples by Bramos had Reyer ahead 2-6 until Xabi Lopez-Arostegui matched him from deep to make it 5-6. Otherwise, both defenses dominated early. Theodore combined free throws, a dish to Watt for a dunk and 2 driving layups to suddenly push Reyer ahead 7-14. Dublejvic's hook shot got Valencia unstuck but Jordan scored and Bramos hit from deep again to force the hosts to take a timeout at 9-19. Julyan Stone joined Bramos with another triple as the visitors finished the first quarter up 11-22.

Prepelic's triple started the new quarter but Daye's 5 straight points gave Reyer a high lead of 14-27. Louis Labeyrie and Jaime Pradilla calmed Valencia with inside baskets before Jordan Morgan restored Reyer's double-digit lead. Prepelic struck again from deep and assisted Dubljevic on another triple to get the hosts within 24-31. When Pradilla added a dunk, the visitors needed a timeout. Pradilla sandwiched a pair of inside baskets around another by Reyer's Martynas Echodas to make it 30-33. Theodore returned to steal and score before hitting from downtown at 30-38. Prepelic traded baskets with Bramos and Watt to keep Valencia within 37-42 at the half.

Pradilla and Theodore got the second half scoring started before Dubjevic's put-back and free throw got Valencia as close as 42-44. Reyer's Victor Sanders drilled from the corner and fed Watt for a slam. Theodore and Watt soon scored in transition as the lead returned to double-digits, 43-53. Rivero and Lopez-Arostegui started Valencia back again and Hermannsson soon joined the effort with a triple at 53-55. Theodore answered him but Lopez-Arostegui did the same for the hosts. Stefano Tonut, Rivero, Watt and Hermannsson all traded buckets while Mike Tobey of Valencia equalled Daye's free throws at 62-64. Tobey then tipped in a missed triple on the buzzer to leave a 64-64 tie after 30 minutes.

Tobey's triple to open the fourth quarter gave Valencia its first lead all night, but Daye matched him at 67-67. Tonut's second-chance drive-and-one restored Reyer's lead, but Rivero's put-back kept Valencia within a point. Tonut scored at 69-72 with under 7 minutes left as back-to-back blocks by Watt frustrated Valencia. So did a second-chance triple by Bramos at 70-75, but then Guillem Ferrando hit a near-identical shot for Valencia. Only a free throw from Prepelic fell in the next 2 minutes, leaving a 74-75 scoreboard. Echodas's technical foul let Prepelic tie 75-75 with less than 3 minutes left. Hermannsson was left alone to drill a triple for Valencia but Theodore answered in kind at 78-78. When Theodore missed his next try, Watt rebounded and scored, but Hermannsson blasted again from the corner at 81-80 with 1:27 left. Dubljevic added a layup with 13 seconds left that was good enough to guarantee the victory once Theodore missed at the other end, leaving the victory in Valencia.