By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Crvena Zvezda needed to bounce back after losing to ALBA Berlin and they did exactly that at home against Valencia.
Nemanja Nedovic was unstoppable with 27 points with 6/7 threes, Mike Tobey added 11, Milos Teodosic dished seven assists, and when all was said and done, Zvezda prevailed without pressure in the end.
The final score was 82-64 in a game that was all about defense. Valencia was contained from start to finish with Chris Jones scoring 11 points, and the duo of Nathan Reuvers and Damien Inglish adding 10 each.
The guests made just three threes in 22 attempts and with that kind of numbers, they didn’t have a lot of luck to win in Belgrade.
Thanks to this result Zvezda got a 10-14 record and can still hope for the play-ins, while Valencia dropped to 12-12 just under the play-ins line on the 11th spot.
“This is an important team for our confidence, but we have to have short memory cause with have to play against Barcelona on Friday”, said Nedovic after the game.
Defense set the tone early
Playing at home, Crvena Zvezda set the tone early on. It was all about defense with the first quarter ending with Valencia leading by one and 23 points in total from both teams (12-11).
It wasn’t pretty, but Zvezda started the second quarter with a 12-0 run, got a 23-12 lead, and never looked back.
“Our defense was excellent, it was one of our best defensive games and it’s not easy to play back-to-back after the game against Partizan and have the same level of effort”, said coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos referring to the local derby for the Adriatic league which was played on Sunday.
The halftime score was 39-30 for the hosts who led by 13 (54-41) with Nedovic scoring 13 points in the first five minutes of the third period.
“They destroyed us in rebounding and I have nothing more to say”, said Valencia coach Alex Mumbru.
Zvezda had a solid 12-point lead (61-49) entering the last period and Valencia couldn’t react anymore.
“It’s important for us because we are in a tough position and every game for us will be a final from now on”, added Tobey