Valencia Basket advanced to the EuroCup Finals for the fifth time in club history by routing Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 90-75 in front of an outstanding basketball atmosphere at a sold-out Fuente De San Luis on Wednesday.
Valencia will face Unicaja Malaga in the second all-Spanish final in competition history (Joventut Badalona and Akasvayu Girona fought for the EuroCup (then-ULEB Cup) trophy in 2008). Fernando San Emeterio led six Valencia scorers in double figures with 15 points. Bojan Dubljevic added 14, Romain Sato and Luke Sikma each scored 12, Rafa Martinez contributed 11 and Pierre Oriola 10 for Valencia.
Curtis Jerrells led Jerusalem with 19 points and Amare Stoudemire added 17. Valencia had an excellent first half, hitting 15-of-24 two-point shots (62.5%), outrebounding Jerusalem 15-7, collecting 5 steals and forcing the visitors into 11 turnovers to take a 44-32 margin at the break. Valencia had a 31-point third quarter which was close to perfection – 9-of-10 two-point shots, 3-of-3 three-pointers, 4-of-4 free throws – to lead 75-50 after 30 minutes and never looked back.
The winner will gain automatic entry into next season’s EuroLeague.
