By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid beat Valencia 108-106 and made it to the final of the Copa Del Rey, where they will face Baskonia.
The hosts led by 18 points after the first period (34-16) and were up by four with 20 seconds left (106-102) in the game after a big three by Jean Montero, who finished the night with 26 points.
However, Mario Hezonja, who had a total of 25 points, closed the night with back-to-back threes to put Madrid up by one (107-106) after a turnover in the inbound pass by the hosts.
With the game on the line and eight seconds left, Montero got the ball, but he was blocked on a lay-up attempt. He then fouled Facundo Campazzo, who made the first free throw (108-106) and lost the second on purpose to run the clock out as less than one second was left.
Campazzo added 17 points for the winners, while Kameron Taylor had 20 for the losing side.
In the second semifinal, Baskonia got the 70-67 win over Barcelona, with Joel Parra missing the chance to send the game to overtime at the buzzer.
Rodion Kurucs with 14 points and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot with 13 points were the top scorers of the winners in a hard-fought game decided on details.
Toko Shengelia and Nicolas Laprovittola, with 12 points each, led Barcelona in scoring. However, despite entering the last period up by nine points (58-49), they couldn’t keep their distance and everything was decided in the last seconds of a low-scoring affair.
Quarterfinals
Valencia Basket – Joventut 95-84
Real Madrid – Unicaja 100-70
Baskonia – La Laguna Tenerife 91-81
Barcelona – UCAM Murcia 91-85
Semifinals
Valencia Basket – Real Madrid 106-108
Baskonia – Barcelona 67-70
Final
Real Madrid – Baskonia (22/2)