Cold-blooded Zvezda sealed win against Valencia from the line
In a game that never saw a double-digit lead for either side and ended up going down to the wire, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade managed to escape from Valencia with a hard-fought 75-77 victory.
It was the Serbian team's fourth road win in a row, and it was also the perfect remedy after losing in overtime at home to FC Barcelona in Round 16. Despite Valencia’s several attempts to flip the script, Zvezda held on and sealed the outcome from the free-throw line.
Things looked pretty good for Zvezda when Filip Petrusev converted a bucket to make it 63-72 with 3 minutes to go, but this was the last field goal that the visiting team made until the end of the game.
Valencia sparked an 8-0 run that reduced the gap to just 1 point in the last minute, but then Petrusev and Nemanja Nedovic stepped up from the line. Both combined to score Zvezda's last 5 points in the game, as Petrusev scored 2 free throws to finish with a perfect night from the stripe, going 11-for-11, while Nedovic made 3-of-4 to finish 7-of-8.