We saw a fantastic final of the 7 Days EuroCup and for a long time, something like this wasn't seen in European basketball.
Valencia had everything in their hands and they were just 10 minutes away from winning the EuroCup trophy and securing the spot in the next edition of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, but Unicaja made a fantastic comeback in the last quarter with 18-0 run and silenced the overcrowded Fuende de San Luisa arena.
In the end, the final result Valencia Unicaja 58-63.
In the previous two games, both teams split one win apiece and we have to add that both games were pretty tight. Valencia won the first match 68-62, while Unicaja grabbed the victory in the second one 79-71.
Most of the fans in Arena were in disbelief when the game ended, because they were absolutely sure during the beginning of the 4th quarter, that their team is going to win. At the end of the game, just a couple hundred people were celebrating the miraculous comeback of the visiting team.
During the last quarter, Valencia scored only 4 points while their opponent scored 20!
The home team had six straight possessions without scoring in the moments when they were leading 8 points and also, they had 9 missed 3-pointers in a row. and that provided a chance for the visiting team to turn the things around.
And they used it, although the ending was quite interesting and thrilling, in the last 20 seconds of the game they defended their lead from the free throw line and made an absolute surprise. Nemanja Nedovic was the player who sealed the fate of Valencia with a couple of free throws and marked the start of a huge celebration for his fans.
Alberto Diaz had a team-high with the winning team with 12 points Jamar Smith scored 10 last night, while Slovenian center Allen Omic had 8.
In the home team, Bojan Dubljevic had a game high with 16 points, but he didn't have any support from his teammates.
Also, Valencia outrebounded the visitors 36-26, but they failed to use that advantage in a proper way. From that 36 boards, 15 of them were offensive rebounds, but in the end, it just wasn't enough for them. The main reason why is their field goal percentage. They were shooting 12 out of 33 for two points, and 9 out of 36 for three points, which is an extremely bad percentage.
This was Unicaja Malaga's first trophy in last 11 years. Since 2001 when they won Korac cup, this was their first continental title.
They have a secured spot in the next year's edition of the Turkish Airlines EurolLeague and after one year of absence, they are back to the elite company of European clubs.
Coach Joan Plaza became only the third coach in history to win EuroCup two times or more.
For all of you basketball fans, EuroLeague is entering the final round today, and there will be a lot of good and exciting games. One of them stands above others. Darusafaka will host Red Star From Belgrade in a decisive match for both teams. This is a direct clash for the playoffs.
Don't miss this one.
