In the opening round of the EuroLeague, Derrick Williams helped Valencia protect home court against ASVEL.
Valencia beat ASVEL with a score of 65-63 in the first round of the EuroLeague. The best player for the home team was Derrick Williams, while Sam Van Rossom scored the winning points for the Spanish squad in the last 16 seconds of the match.
Even though the home team won, the injury on the right knee of Joan Sastre was an unpleasant event for Valencia and the fans in the arena, who returned after seven months of absence.
The French team had an opportunity to win, but unfortunately for them, Amine Noua missed a three-point shot in the last action.
During the whole game, it was uncertain which team will prevail. In the first half, Valencia was leading, but in the second, the guests were a little bit better. And in the end, Van Rossom decided the winner of the match.
Even though the winning shot belonged to Sam Van Rossom, the best player for the Spaniards was Derrick Williams. Ex Fenerbahce player scored 15 points and 5 rebounds for an index rating of 18. The only other player in double digits for Valencia was Mike Tobey with 10 points.
The situation in ASVEL wasn’t much different, as only two players scored more than 10 points. Moustapha Fall was the best with 14 points and Norris Cole added 11.
This was not a game with many points, but the interesting fact was that the winner scored 10 for 15 from the free-throw line. Their free throws percentage was 66.7, and they will have to work on it, especially if happens that they will be on the free-throw line more often in the upcoming games.
