Valencia Basket stops Monaco and is positive in the Euroleague
MADRID, 11 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Valencia Basket was placed with a positive balance of victories and defeats for the first time in the Regular Phase of the Euroleague 2022-2023 after beating this Friday at La Fonteta by 89-84 against a team from the top such as AS Monaco, thanks in large part to the final success of James Webb III.
The ‘taronja’ team seems to be getting the pulse of the top continental competition and added their third consecutive victory to straighten out their bad start and move up to 4-3 among the top eight in the standings.
To do this, he had to battle against a rival who had only conceded one defeat so far and whom he almost always dominated on the scoreboard, but who he always let get back into the game, solved in the end by the appearance of Chris Jones, the better with 27 points, and James Webb III, who punished the visitors with two key triples in the final moments.
Alex Mumbrú took pains to stop the impact on the field of Mike James. The American point guard is one of the best scorers in the Euroleague and at La Fonteta he was not good, with 2/12 shooting and 12 points, seven from the free throw line. Better worked an ‘extaronja’ as Jordan Loyd, author of 24 points, insufficient against the trio Jones-Webb III-Harper.
The first signed a first part to remember in a clash where he came out already inspired from the jump. The shooting guard scored 18 points to lead a Valencia Basket that also started very well from the triple line, but missed its first good lead (20-12), due to the burden of losses in the first quarter (8).
Monaco, thanks to the defensive contribution of Mike James, got back on track with an 0-8 run and maintained their improvement to even take the lead (26-27). It was a mirage because Jones, with his fourth triple and great penetration, and the triples of Webb III and Prepelic opened an interesting gap (39-29). The Monegasque team, thanks to Loyd and the free kicks made by James, returned the partial (0-11), but a basket by Claver left the locals ahead at halftime (41-40).
After passing through the changing rooms, the two teams returned with less success and the scoreboard suffered a break, with the points rising with a dropper, which maintained the balance. Then, it was Harper’s moment, who with his points, caused another ‘taronja’ rush for the final ten minutes (64-54).
Another three-pointer from the point guard made it a hopeful 67-54, but AS Monaco did not get carried away and went back to work at the back to cut off the local offensive continuity. The appearance of Okobo with two triples returned the equality (73-73) and ventured a tight ending. Jones, who had disappeared in scoring, ‘reappeared’ and gave air with a triple and a basket after an offensive rebound (80-75), but it was two triples by James Webb III that put an end to the visiting resistance.
–RESULT: VALENCIA BASKET, 89 – AS MONACO, 84 (41-40, at halftime).
VALENCIA BASKET: Jones (27), Radebaugh (2), Puerto (-), Webb III (15) and Dubljevic (6) –starting quintet–; Harper (16), Claver (6), Pradilla (-), López-Arostegi (12), Prepelic (5) and Alexander (-).
AS MONACO: James (12), Loyd (24), Ouattara (-), Brown (5) and Motiejunas (8) –starting five–; Okobo (12), Blossomgame (2), Diallo (14), Moerman (-) and Hall (7).
–PARTIALS: 20-20, 21-20, 23-14 and 25-30.
–REFEREES: Pukl, Pastusiak and Koljensic. They eliminated López-Arostegi for fouls.
— PAVILION: La Fonteta.
