Insufficient Reaction on UCAM Murcia’s Court (92-80)

Valencia Basket closed out its third away game of the week with a defeat on UCAM Murcia’s court, 92-80, in a game where the university team demonstrated the qualities that have made them the best defense in the Liga Endesa. They prevented the taronja team from finding its offensive rhythm, caused a high level of missed shots, and dominated the battle under the boards with authority in the second and third quarters.

Although Pedro Martínez’s men didn’t give up and tried to stay in the game after a 0-10 run at the end of the third period, and once again recovered from the hosts reaction by finding accuracy from beyond the arc to get within six points in the final stretch, Forrest and Ennis protected Murcia’s lead and prevented Valencia’s comeback.

Valencia Basket began ahead, capitalizing on the only moment in the first half where they found success from long range, but Forrest’s points leveled the game and the home team’s defense disrupted Valencia’s offense, holding them to just 13 points in the second quarter.

Despite struggling to score, Valencia Basket managed to stay close thanks to its defense until a Murcia scoring run at the end of the first half sent them into the break trailing by seven. Ennis widened the gap at the start of the third quarter and, with Valencia having major difficulties to score, the hosts protected and even extended their lead over the minutes to a maximum of 17.

Valencia Basket tried and twice closed the gap in the final quarter, but the key players for the home team stepped up to prevent the comeback.

Post-game quotes: Pedro Martínez

"Congratulations to UCAM Murcia, they played a very good game. We had a lot of problems, especially defending Forrest, who was very aggressive going to the basket and managed to score many easy points. We weren’t able to defend him well, although obviously we respect him a lot and we know he is a very good player and not easy to guard. The end of the second quarter, when the game was more or less even until that point, made us go into halftime with a big deficit and bad feelings. And the start of the third quarter was bad, and that’s where they dominated us.

We have to close this game, analyze it, and think about the next one, as always. We want to be defined by not looking for excuses, neither before nor after. Not beforehand, so it seems like if we lose, we have 40,000 excuses, nor afterwards when we have lost. They were better than us, and what we need to do is prepare ourselves as best as we can for the next one."