By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
CSKA Moscow resisted feisty Valencia Basket at home and moved forward with an 81-70 victory, their fourth in a row, for Round 21 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
The Army Team’s victory was paced by the Johannes Voigtmann and Mike James duo. The German forward played a key role in this victory with a double-double of 19 points and 10 boards for a season-high PIR of 26.
James followed his lead with 14 points, four assists, and three rebounds. “I wouldn’t say it was easy. I think we controlled ourselves really well and just controlled the pace and we let that help us to the victory”, James mentioned after the win.
Sam Van Rossom posted a team-high performance for the Spanish side with 16 points, while Bojan Dubljevic exited the game with 10 points
Valencia falls short in the fourth
For three quarters the battle between the two opposing teams was rather head to head, with CSKA only keeping a short lead at parts (42-39 at halftime and 60-56 after 30′).
Joel Bolomboy (6 points) made it a 10-point game for the first time at 33′. That was the turning point of the game as the hosts accelerated to keep Valencia at bay with a great defensive effort. Up until the midpoint of the fourth, the Spanish side was down by 14, though with a late surge they managed to recover some ground until the end of the game, with Dubljevic and Guillem Vives (9 points).
“This is the season for whoever stays safe, but we are going to fight, definitely, through adversities, and I congratulate my team for fighting through adversities all this year. We are going to continue about that. This is a good lesson for us. We are just going forward, we will never be going back”, commented Dimitris Itoudis after the game.
CSKA improved to a 15-6 record in the standings and can still keep its eyes on the homecourt advantage in the battle for the playoffs. Things look differently from Valencia’s point of view at the moment, as they fall into a 10-11 record, fighting to remain in the Top 8 teams of the competition.
Photo: EuroLeague