Unicaja de Málaga brought an end to the series of six victories for Valencia Basket in their Martín Carpena fiefdom. The Valencians lost to one of the best locals in the Endesa acb League (102-86). Despite the good performance of men like James Webb III or Kyle Alexander, Álex Mumbrú’s team paid dearly for the absence of their captain, Bojan Dubljevic, in the area and, above all, the fatigue accumulated in a week with two demanding games away from The Fonteta. The high intensity favored Unicaja, connected in a longer stretch of the game thanks to a wider range of available players, a devoted fans and a scorer of the caliber of Darío Brizuela, author of 20 points in the end.
What Valencia BC suffered in the first half -and in the last quarter- was a true storm. In the early stages, the Mumbrú team was able to keep up with the electric rhythm of the locals with the ‘pick and roll’ played by Alexander. However, a greater aggressiveness in defense and a high success rate earned Ibon Navarro’s men an early lead in the duel with points from Kendrick Perry, Melvin Ejim and former pitcher Will Thomas (19-15, m. 10).
To the ultra-fast sound of Jared Harper, Valencia tried to reactivate in the second quarter. But there was no way. A triple by Tyler Kalinoski widened the gap to 12 points (27-19, m. 12). The appearance of James Webb III, with the first hits for the ‘taronja’ from 6.75, and the speed of Harper and Shannon Evans narrowed the duel at the best visiting moment (34-30, m. 16). However, when Valencia BC had gotten closer, Unicaja resumed command from Tyson Carter and Ejim. The first part ended in the worst possible way for the Valencians, with a -14 after a last outside shot from Nihad Djedovic (47-33, m. 20).
Two triples from Web III
The ‘taronja’ returned to the court ready to reduce the disadvantage and fight the greater breadth in the rotation of the Malacitanos, a solid team, very fit and without the collection of casualties from Valencia. Those of Mumbrú resisted the blows of David Kravish and Carter with points from Jonah Radebaugh and Alexander. Although the reaction became real thanks to the aim of Webb III. Two consecutive triples from the former Murcia player and a third from Xabi López-Arostegui forced Navarro’s timeout (56-52, m. 26). Until the end of the third quarter, the game entered a fight of exchange of blows between the pressure of a practically full Carpena with more than 9000 people. López-Arostegui and Evans replied to Kalinoski’s baskets and a Brizuela whose wrist shot fire (69-64, m. 29). The disadvantage was six to ten minutes from the end after two free throws by Djedovic (71-65, m. 30).
Unicaja continued to set a frenetic pace that suffocated Valencia BC, worn out by the load of minutes caused by injuries and the demands of the Euroleague. Josep Puerto answered the 4-0 start for the locals, but Brizuela would later penetrate towards the hoop to keep the Valencians eight behind (77-69, m. 33). The panorama became even more complicated after Dylan Osetkowski’s 2+1 in connection with Djedovic. And a triple from the interior of the United States returned the maximum for the people of Malaga with only five minutes to go (86-72).
The rebound, decisive
The superiority in the rebound and the freshness when it came to attacking in the race made the difference. The triples from Brizuela and Djedovic sentenced the duel three minutes from the conclusion. Mumbrú had to call a timeout after suffering a 14-5 run and trailing by 18. Despite the commitment, reflected in the five immediate points from Puerto and López-Arostegui, the distance was too much against such a driven opponent. The ‘taronja’ gaze is fixed on tomorrow’s clash at home against Bayern with the doubt of Klemen Prepelic.
