The hosts wiped out an 11-point first quarter deficit to prevail on the back of ironclad defense
Valencia keeps rolling to go top with gritty home win over Partizan
Informes de partidos
3 Min lectura
Regular Season
Round 19 of 38
Regular Season
Valencia BasketVBC
8673
Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradePAR
Overview
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Valencia Basket will head imperiously into 2026 after a seventh win in the last eight EuroLeague games took the Spanish outfit to the top of the EuroLeague standings on a 13-6 record, courtesy of an ultimately emphatic 86-73 home win over Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade.
It was another gritty and physical display by Valencia, which erased an early 6-17 deficit and dominated the fourth quarter, as Darius Thompson (17 points) and Nate Reuvers (14) came up big in crunch time to engineer a final 17-5 run which took the hosts across the finish line.
Brancou Badio chipped in with 14 points, Jean Montero added 13 while Jaime Pradilla racked up 11 and 7 boards to underline a smooth team effort, as Valencia overcame a mediocre shooting night thanks to steely defense which limited Partizan to 9-of-27 from long range. The home team also dominated offensive rebounds 14-7 and had 9 steals as Valencia hustled tirelessly at both ends of the court, forcing a barrage of tough shots from the visitors.
Partizan led for much of the first half and stayed on an even keel in the third quarter, but Valencia took the lead for good after Thompson hit a deep three to give the hosts a 65-63 lead. The Serbian side closed in to 69-68 early in the fourth but its offense then came to a screeching halt as Valencia closed out the contest with a 17-5 run which had the home fans in raptures after the final buzzer.
“We hoped that at some point they’d break and it happened in the last five minutes,” Thompson said in his postgame comments. “We’ll just take it one game at a time and not look to far ahead and we’ll see what happens at the end of the season.”
The outcome was a fitting reward for head coach Pedro Martinez, whose relentless Valencia team has stunned the EuroLeague with torrid pace and physical defense which saw the outfit steamroll through the first half of the regular season and hit the pinnacle.
“It was a very tough game, one of the toughest of the season so far and we have to be very happy as well as recover for the next game,” said Martinez. “This is an incredible competition with a lot of great teams and we are doing well at the moment, but two or three defeats could send us sliding into mid-table. We have to be ready and keep practicing,” he added.
Following last week’s 87-112 home drubbing by Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv, it was another tough outing and a second successive defeat for Partizan’s new head coach Joan Penarroya, as well as the club’s fourth in a row, which sent the team reeling into a 6-13 record. Penarroya conceded that his team paid the price for poor shooting from downtown.
“We competed very well in a difficult game for us but to win in Valencia we needed better percentages from the three-point line and we missed a lot of those shots,” he said. “Congratulations to Valencia for the win and for an amazing season. We only scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and that sums it up. Our situation is not good, but we improved from the last game we played.”
