By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In one of the biggest upsets of Round 15, Valencia played exceptional basketball, especially in the fourth quarter, to overcome Barcelona 84 – 83. The Taronja improved to 7-8 while their opponents dropped to 10-5.
It was a big team effort for Valencia with Jasiel Rivero leading the charge by scoring 16 points. Bojan Dubljevic followed with 14 points, while Jared Harper added 11.
“I could not imagine a better Christmas gift. Now we celebrate with the fans,” said Rivero.
Anybody who thought Barcelona would make easy work of Valencia made a colossal error. Coach Alex Mumbru made sure that his team is ready, especially at the beginning when Barcelona tried to pressure the ball and make a run. Instead, Valencia made sure to remain composed, battling for every position and even having a three-point advantage at half-time (41-38).
“Today we played tough. We stayed focused until the end. We played solid in the last couple of weeks,” said coach Mumbru.
Barcelona started off better in the third quarter and Nikola Mirotic found his touch with the basket (48-43), but Valencia remained calm and reclaimed the lead entering the fourth quarter (62-59). They made a run and then Dubljevic put up his team by 10 (79-69). But the game was far from over.
Nicolas Laprovittola was on a mission the entire game. Hitting another three-pointer (6-11 overall) with 90 seconds left, he cut the lead down to 79-75. That was just the beginning of a nail-biting finish. Nikola Mirotic hit a corner three with 15 seconds left, but Chris Jones drained two free throws that sealed the deal for the hosts.
“We did not do the things we set out to do. As a coach, I have to take responsibility. We were not good tactically” Sarunas Jasikevicius added.
Nicolas Laprovittola scored 28 points, Vesely added 14, while Mirotic stopped at 11 points.