Valencia, Apr 20 (EFE).- The control of the rebound, especially the offensive one, with a notable contribution from Montenegrin Bojan Dubljevic and Cuban Jasiel Rivero, gave Valencia Basket the necessary calm on Wednesday to subdue the unruly Hamburg Towers of the Spanish coach Pedro Calles and access without suffering to the quarterfinals of this European Championship in which they will face the French Boulogne Metropolitans 92 again at La Fonteta and again in a single match.
Bold, aggressive and with nothing to lose, the German team staged a brilliant start that resulted in a 2-9 run. Alerted, Valencia woke up and increased their energy which allowed them to adjust the score but it was not enough to turn it around against a rivalry that had Jaylon Brown and Caleb Homesley in the American outsiders and the Estonian insider Maik Kotsar three references to whom cover.
The appearance of Dubljevic generated a pole of attention in the low post that allowed the local team to get ahead for the first time but that was not enough to knock down their rival, who with a new rush from Brown threatened to complicate things again.
A timeout by Joan Peñarroya, the energy of Rivero and the appearance of Víctor Claver allowed Valencia to get back in front and, with good rebound control in both baskets, open a small lead before the break despite Kotsar’s resistance (48-41, m.20).
Aware that any mistake could complicate the game and their future in the tournament, the Valencian team came out serious in the third quarter, again with Rivero and Claver in tune and now also with Xabi López-Arostegui. The home advantage grew to twelve but first Homesley’s shots and then Brown’s drives kept Hamburg in the game.
But the inability to control the rebound in their own basket prevented the German team from narrowing the score and the local advantage grew again based on second options and the good direction of the Belgian Sam Van Rossom despite the active opposition of the Estonian Kotsar (71 -56, m.29).
With the match on track, Peñarroya was able to give new minutes to Nenad Dimitrijevic, who reappeared in this match after several weeks out due to a complicated viral process. But beyond the entry of the rotations, Valencia did not let go of the rudder of the match, clinging to his dominance of the rebound, a facet in which he finished with 38 captures for the 23 of his rival.
Datasheet:
98.- Valencia Basket (19+29+25+25): Hermannson (10), López-Arostegui (9), Claver (9), Rivero (21), Tobey (8) -five starters- Dimitrijevic (-), Puerto (8), Pradilla (8), Dubljevic (15), Van Rossom (7) and Jiménez (3).
80.- Hamburgo Towers (22+19+17+22): Brown (15), Homesley (14), Di Leo (-), Hinrichs (3), Kotsar (23) -cinco titular- Walker (-), Rich (2), Meisner (9), Christen (-), Bluiett (5), Edigin (4) and Hollatz (5).
Referees: Boltauzer (ESL), Peerandi (EST), Thepenier (FRA). Without eliminated.
Incidents: match corresponding to the round of 16 of the European Championship played in the Fuente de San Luis pavilion before 5,386 spectators.
