By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Hapoel Jerusalem craved a victory which would bring them to the Eurocup Top 16 but Valencia’s payback urges were the ones satisfied in Israel. Thanks to a 86 – 84 road win, the “Taronja” took a small “revenge” for their home defeat by Hapoel in the season’s premiere and remain on top of Group D.
Meanwhile the Israelis will look for the qualification to the next stage of the competition in the next match vs Union Olimpija at home.
The match was decided in the very last seconds, after Jerome Dyson scored from behind the arc for the 79 – 80 with one minute to go. Everything was up for grabs but both teams refused to take it, making a series of turnovers. Ultimately, Valencia’s players were good enough from the free throw line to retain their lead while their opponents’ series of bad decisions doomed them.
It ended as thriller, although ti didn’t start like that. A superior Valencia was ahead 44 – 33 at halftime, making it 33 – 48 in the beginning of the third period.
But that was when Dyson was energized and with the help of Travis Peterson, Lior Eliyahu and Curtis Jerrels, completed a great comeback thanks to a 21 – 6 run that tied the score 54 – 54 within six minutes. The game remained very close until its finale.
Antoine Diot paced Valencia with 21 points and 6 assists while Fernando San Emeterio added 12 (plus 8 rebounds) and Viacheslav Kravtsov 11. Dyson was the top scorer for Hapoel with 17 and Eliyahu had 16 along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists.