By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Valencia defeated Barcelona 82 – 78 in the opening quarterfinal game of the 2020 Spanish Copa del Rey to eliminate the tournament’s defending champion. The “Taronja” advanced to the semifinal stage for the first time since 2017.
Mike Tobey scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed five rebounds in 17 minutes while hitting seven straight points in the mid of the fourth period to help Valencia enter the last five minutes up by double figures, 74 – 63. Barcelona players struggled to make a shot and actually four wide-open 3-pointers in a single play with the score 76 – 69.
Aaron Doornekamp committed an unsportsmanlike foul on Malcolm Delaney with the score 78 – 71 and 22 seconds remaining but Barca only took 1/2 free throws from this play. A 3-pointer by Adam Hanga for the 77 – 79 and 10 seconds left kept the “Blaugrana” alive.
Barcelona was trailing 80 – 77 when Cory Higgins was fouled. He made 1/2, intentionally missing the second free-throw, only for Albert Abalde to grab the defensive rebound and basically secure the win of Valencia.
Nikola Mirotic stood out for Barcelona thanks to his 25 points and eight rebounds. Victor Claver added 15 points.
For Valencia, Bojan Dubljevic dropped 13 points and grabbed six rebounds while Aaron Doornekamp finished with 12 points and seven boards.
Valencia will play against Real Madrid in the first of Saturday’s (15/2) semifinals after the latter’s win over Bilbao.