In a dramatic match, Valencia defeated the powerful Monaco 70-65 in Levante in the EuroLeague premiere and “cut” the favorite’s lead from the Monegasques, showing that they can claim entry into the top eight.
The two teams alternated for the longest duration of the match, but the series of “bats” in the last minutes gave them the pink card.
The Spaniards were led by Ojeleghe with 19 and Jones with 14 points. For the Monegasques, James’ 21 points and Okobo’s 17 were not enough.
The match
The two teams alternated in the lead at the beginning of the match and only in the 6-3 of Valencia did it show that someone is going to escape the score. A 5-0 Monaco run made it 7-12 for the Monegasques and Okobo’s three-pointer, James kept +6 for the good perimeter attack of Sasha Obradovic’s players, with the American guard leading 17-20 in the first period .
The Monaco regionals maintained +4 to +6 for the French at the start of the second period, but the consecutive three-pointers of the “bats” and the star of the attack by Jones brought a 10-0 run for the +4 of the Spaniards. At 32-28, James led an 8-0 Monegasque run to go +4, but Robertson’s back-to-back points made it 39-38 at the end of the half. The Spaniards had 7/9 shots and 18 rebounds and the Monegasques 5/5 shots.
Early in the third period, a 9-0 Monaco run made it 41-38 to 41-46 for Saša Obradovic’s players with offensive versatility from the perimeter and racket. With a new 4-0 run, Monaco reached +8. But there, three consecutive 3-pointers by the home team led to a 10-0 run for 53-51 at the end of the quarter.
Okobo’s three-pointer at the start of the fourth period brought +2 for Monaco, but Jones’ personal 4-0 run made it 59-55 for the French and now he had taken over the offensive “baton” and maintained the lead for the Levantines . Motejunas was trying at that time for Monaco and James’ 3-pointer made it 61-63.
Davis tied the game at 63-63 at 1:51 and Jones’ three-pointer made it 66-63 for the hosts. Otzelege with two free throws made it 68-63 at 48”, the French missed consecutive three-pointers and Jovic with two shots made it 70-63. Okobo with two of his own reduced and made the final 70-65.
The quarters: 17-20, 39-38, 53-51, 70-65
The statistics
Source: Sport Fm
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