Valencia advances to Copa del Rey Semi´s

Valencia Basket came through a thriller against Laboral Kutxa to book a place in the Cope Del Rey Semifinals where the team will meet Barcelona.

In arguably the most thrilling of the four games in Malaga during the Quarterfinals, both teams chased the win in a compelling contest. The entertainment ran high as Valencia continued its fantastic season (the club is currently second in the Spanish league and is going well in the Eurocup). Laboral Kutxa will be disappointed to drop out so early in the final eight Copa series but the club still has the Euroleague and Liga Endesa to play for.

First quarter
Valencia took an early lead at 3-2, but that would be the only time in the entire first half that the team held the advantage. Laboral quickly responded and the game was tied at nine apiece before the team stole the initiative with seven unanswered points to go 9-16 in front. Valencia struggled to get into the game and only scored three points over the next few minutes as Kutxa plundered 10 points. It was a disappointing period for Valencia as the team missed 7 of its 8 two point attempts to trail 17-26 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter
Valencia came out fighting in the second period as the players restricted Laboral Kutxa to just four points in the opening five minutes of the quarter. However, the team struggled to find the net so despite an improved defensive display Valencia trailed 26-30 with 15 minutes on the clock. Andres Nocioni and Tibor Pleiss drove a seven point run for Kutxa to give the team another eleven point advantage that was increased to 13 with a minute to play in the first half. By halftime Valencia had cut the lead to 10 points with the board reading 35-45.

Third quarter
Laboral Kutxa was well on the way to victory and had been much the better team in the first half, but Velimir Perasovic’s team talk seemed to work as Valencia came out a different animal in the second half. Oliver Lafayette started the third on fire and by the 24th minute he had reduced the deficit to just five points and by the 26th he had cut it to three points. However, Laboral once again rallied to put together a 4-11 run to once again put the difference at 10 points. Rafael Martinez hit from beyond the arc to make it a seven point game at 55-62 after 30 minutes.

Fourth quarter
Valencia finally clicked at the start and hit seven points without reply (to cap a 10 point run from the end of the third), and it was Martinez who tied the score at 62 apiece. The Kutxa players kept calm to hit four consecutive points to record a 65-69 lead with just three minutes remaining in the game. Valencia finally retook the lead at 71-69 with just 90 seconds remaining. The drama did not end there though as Kutxa tied the game but down the stretch could not hold off the Valencia resurgence.

Oliver Lafayette paced the Valencia comeback with 13 points and 6 assists, while Rafael Martinez claimed 13 points and Bojan Dubljevic grabbed 12 points and 7 rebounds.

Andres Nocioni collected a game high 18 points and 8 rebounds for Laboral Kutxa