By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Hapoel Tel Aviv had a good first half, still in the end, Valencia cruised to a 91-82 win in the first game of the BKT EuroCup semifinals.
The Spaniards opened their best-of-three series with Jean Montero scoring 24 points, while Chris ones and Matt Costello added 13 points each.
The impressive fact is that they got the win despite shooting just 4/24 threes, however, they had 42 rebounds, including 16 offensive, against a total of 31 for Hapoel.
On the other side, Markus Foster and Yam Madar scored 20 points each for Hapoel, which had 16 turnovers and just 15 assists.
Hapoel opened the first period leading by four (24-20) and had a 10-point advantage (46-36) with two minutes left in the second period.
However, Valencia closed the gap to six (48-42) at halftime and opened the third period with a 17-3 run in six minutes, turning the tables and getting a 59-51 lead with Montero and Mat Costello dominating the game.
Marcus Forster stopped the bleeding with a three (59-54), but the momentum had changed, and despite Hapoel’s effort, which trimmed the lead to three (62-59), Valencia entered the last quarter with a six-point cushion (65-59).
Thanks to a three by Montero, the hosts pushed the lead to 11 points (74-63), and while Hapoel didn’t let go, Valencia had the advantage until the end, entering the last minute up by 14 points (91-77) and getting the win.
Photo credit: EuroCup