Valencia roll past short-handed Ulm, clinch second place in Group B / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: AFP7 via ZUMA Press Wire - Scanpix Credit AFP7 via ZUMA Press Wire - Scanpix

Valencia Basket (12-6) snapped their two-game losing streak in the EuroCup by cruising past ratiopharm Ulm (7-11) by 103-71 (29-16, 23-14, 30-15, 21-26).

Player of the Game EFF 26 Jaime Pradilla Points 15 Accuracy 7-8 Rebounds 9 Assists 1

The team coached by Joan Penarroya secured second place in Group B. However, Klemen Prepelic, Sam Van Rossom and Nenad Dimitrijevic remained sidelined and are set to miss the EuroCup playoffs.

Ulm, on the other hand, is locked into eighth place in Group B and already know that they will play against Group A winners Joventut Badalona in the eighth-finals. Core players, like center Cristiano Felicio and forward Jaron Blossomgame, were absent, as coach Jaka Lakovic made extensive rotation and fielded a ten-man squad.

Essentially, the game ended before it even started. The hosts had an explosive first quarter and never looked back. All three bigs (Bojan Dubljevic, Mike Tobey, Lous Labeyrie) scored in double-digits, but the Frenchman left the court with injury with two minutes left to play.

The 'taronja' broke their all-time assist record with 33 dimes. 20-year-old Guillem Ferrando dished out 13, another record by a player in a single game, in almost 22 minutes.

Mike Tobey helped Valencia get off on the right foot, as the American big man scored 9 points in the opening seven minutes. The hosts imposed their rules on both ends, finishing the first quarter (29-16) with 10 assists and 0 turnovers.

Karim Jallow was the only offensive threat for Ulm, with the 24-year-old forward scoring 8 points in ten minutes. However, consecutive three-pointers from Ferrando and Dubljevic made things easier for the four-time EuroCup winners. Valencia's relaxation of defense allowed Ulm to score some easy points, especially in transition, but Valencia was clearly the higher-motivated team.

Martin Hermansson made it 42-26, leading Valencia to a partial score of 13-4 that closed the first 20 minutes on a high note for the hosts.

Xabi Lopez-Arrostegui was the only Valencia player who didn't score, although the Spanish forward stayed 14 minutes on the court.

Valencia Basket: Bojan Dubljevic 19 (7/8 FG, 7 REB, 4 AST), Mike Tobey 16 (6/10 FG, 3/4 FT, 2 REB), Jaime Pradilla 15 (7/8 FG, 9 REB), Louis Labeyrie 14 (6/8 FG, 5 REB), Victor Claver 8.

ratiopharm Ulm: Karim Jallow 19 (8/12 FG, 2/2 FT), Fedor Zugic 13 (4/10 FG, 3/4 FT), Moritz Krimmer 11 (4/9 FG, 2/4 FT, 5 REB), Nicolas Bretzel 9.

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