By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Valencia managed to bounce back from a three-game slip and beat Crvena Zvezda 91-71 at home for Round 20 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, to improve to an 11-9 record in the standings. The Spanish team also took revenge for its narrow 73-76 defeat against Zvezda in Round 15 back in December.
Despite a game-high performance of 121 points by Johnny O’Bryant, Zvezda could not fight back to complete its comeback early in the second half and the hosts remained in charge with a 68-57 advantage after 30 minutes. Derrick Williams (12 points) stepped up in the fourth squad and along with Nikola Kalinic, they lead Valencia to this key victory.
Kalinic posted 14 points and 7 rebounds to lead Valencia to this victory. Louis Labeyrie and Mike Tobey added 16 and 13 points respectively and Sam Van Rossom filled the statsheet with 6 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds for Jaume Ponsarnau’s squad. Joan Sastre also stepped up late in the game to add 11 points.
“We are happy because our mentality is sharing the ball. Sometimes we have problems when we play against physical defenses. They played physical in the third quarter, but we were dynamic and learned how to play against their defense. Miki Vukovic [who passed away on Friday] is the history of this club. He helped this club a lot, to take a step forward. He is a reference for all the coaches in Valencia”, said Ponsarnau after the game.
On the other end of the court, Quino Colom added up to O’Bryant’s efforts with 11 points and 2 rebounds.
Dejan Radonjic’s squad suffered its second consecutive defeat and will end the double-game week with a 6-13 record, still at the bottom-tier of the standings.
Photo: EuroLeague