Cuban Jasiel Rivero contributed 13 points today for the Valencia Basket club, from Spain, but could not prevent the setback 89-92 against Turkish Frutti Extra Bursaspor, on matchday 16 of the basketball Eurocup, a tournament that in terms of quality it is only behind the Euroleague in the Old Continent.
As visitors to Turkey, the Valencians missed the opportunity to be at the top of group B alone, and now with 11 wins and five losses, another Spanish team, Gran Canaria, appears at half game; while Bursaspor (7-9) remains in eighth place.
Based on the Tofas Arena field, in that duel the player from Cuba, who captured four rebounds and distributed three assists, was the fourth highest scorer of his team, behind Xabier López-Arostegui, with 17 points, in addition to Mike Tobey and Klemen Prepelic, both with 14.
For the winners, Dave Dudzinski and Andrew Andrews led the offense, both with 23 cards, well supported by Derek Needham (16), according to the official site of the contest.
Turning to the collective statistics, the homeowners were only better than their opponents in free throws with a 90.9 percent effectiveness, product of 20 goals in 22 attempts; while the taronja group did so for 76.0% (19/25).
Valencia Basket was more effective in shooting from the field with 54.5% (30/55) and from long distance with 40.0%, thanks to 10 three-pointers in 25 opportunities, but it was not enough for them to succeed.
In that match, the locals dominated the first half 43-40, and after the break the Valencians won 26-21 in the third quarter, but in the last period Bursaspor took a decisive advantage of 28-23 to secure the victory.
