By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Valencia defeated Anadolu Efes, 76-74, thanks to Klemen Prepelic hitting a game-winning shot in the dying seconds of the exciting Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 13 held at the La Fonteta Thursday evening.
The Slovenian guard was quiet for most of the night but certainly made his presence as overtime was approaching. He confidently took on the final shot and made his mid-range jumper to end up with a total of seven points and lift the Spanish outlet to 8-5.
Clock ticking down…⏰@prle_10 steps UP and wins it for @valenciabasket ??
They really did do it AGAIN! #7DAYSMagicMoment pic.twitter.com/4lL4RfqWJO
— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) December 10, 2020
“I was underneath the hoop, Coach just told to go for the offensive rebound just in case he missed, but I have seen Klemen take this shot over and over,” said Derrick Williams right after the conclusion, “I am under the rim, so I saw it going in from the start. Amazing shot! That is the type of win that we need to keep going in this EuroLeague.”
“Unbelievable! Great move!” added Mike Tobey, “He knows that he is a great shot-maker like that. We trust him in that situation and he made a great shot. It is a good bounce-back win for us. They are a really good team and have unbelievable talent, so this is a big win for us and we have to try to build off this.”
Big man Tobey with a personal-high in Europe’s premier club continental competition of 21 points did most of the preceding work. Williams threw in 14 more points.
Martin Hermannsson only put up four points but dished out a game-high seven assists. His career-best, 11, was also against Efes but as a member of ALBA Berlin. Joan Sastre and Vanja Marinkovic remained sidelined.
“I am happy because today I think we took a step forward. We found a way to answer every Efes move,” mentioned head coach Jaume Ponsarnau, “I hope we can use this win to keep growing in the competition.”
On the losing end, Vasilije Micic and James Anderson shared a team-high 16 points in the tight battle. Shane Larkin got 13 points but only two after the first quarter.
Chris Singleton stuffed his stat sheet with 12 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks for a game-high 23 PIR. Krunoslav Simon was out.
“We played very well in the first and third quarter,” mentioned head coach Ergin Ataman, “In the last three or four minutes with the game in our hands, we made very easy turnovers. We were not successful in attacking the basket.”
The 11-point first-quarter showing by Larkin helped the visitors land an early double-digit lead. They went back up six in the third period before eventually falling to 7-6.
Both teams were in action Tuesday but went from a loss to a win and vice versa. The hectic schedule continues with domestic affairs this weekend and two more EuroLeague matches next week.
Valencia will move on for two away games, against Olympiacos Wednesday and Crvena Zvezda mts Friday after visiting Movistar Estudiantes Sunday in ACB action.
The Turkish club will host Frutti Extra Bursaspor Saturday at the domestic level, travel to face CSKA Moscow Tuesday and return to Istanbul and take on AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan Thursday.