By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The reigning Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champions in CSKA Moscow shot 17-31 from deep as they continued where they left off and logged a 96-71 road win over Valencia Basket.
Mike James shot perfectly from the field (7-7 including one triple) on his way to 20 points while Darrun Hilliard banked career-high 22.
The trio of James and Hilliard were on fire from start to finish as they put on 14 points each in the first half giving CSKA – which nailed eight triples – a 50-38 lead.
Andrey Vorontsevich added 13 and Will Clyburn 12 points for CSKA while for Valencia, Mike Tobey scored 14 in addition to Bojan Dubljevic and Brock Motum‘s 12 points.
CSKA’s first win in Valencia
“I didn’t know that [ it’s CSKA’s first win in Valencia] so we gotta be double happy, let’s say. We had a very serious performance today. It was an outstanding performance for us, in general. We played against a very good team, against the EuroCup winner. They definitely have a lot of things that we managed to stop, like their ball movement, like the size that they have and the advantage they can get on the block, like the offensive boards… I think we were in control of the game from the beginning until the end. We were just serious. But as I said to my team, we deserve congratulations for the start. Consistency is what gives you rewards in this competition. This is a marathon. We just got an important road win to build our confidence,” coach Dimitris Itoudis said.
Dubljevic was trying to push Valencia with 12 first-half points but he didn’t score at all after the break while CSKA continued in the same rhythm. The Russian team increased the gap to 22 points (76-54) at the end of the third and as much as 28 points (86-58) in the fourth quarter.
Valencia coach Jaume Ponsarnau was very disappointed with his player’s attitude: “What I regret the most is that at times we showed little character, regardless of them playing better than us and being better than us and hitting more shots than us. We have to understand that the first thing for us is being brave and give our all. At times, we showed we have things to hold onto but we must consolidate them and improve them. And we will do that, for sure.”
Game Highlights:
Photo Credit: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague