Cuban Jasiel Rivero and his club seek fifth victory in Eurocup basketball

December 23, 2021

Cuban Jasiel Rivero and his club Valencia Basket, from Spain, will take the court today in search of their fifth victory in the Eurocup basketball tournament, a competition that in terms of quality is only behind the Euroleague on the European continent.

The Valencians, occupying fourth place in group B with four wins and two losses, will host at their Pabellón Fuente de San Luis court, known as la Fonteta, the team Cedevita Olimpia Ljubljana, from Slovenia, ninth and second-to-last in that bracket with two victories and five defeats, according to the official competition website.

That matchup, starting at 2:45 p.m. Cuba time, will be a good opportunity for the home side to continue improving their standings in their group.

On December 7th as visitors, the orange team defeated their Italian counterpart Reyer Venezia with a score of 81-67, on the Palasport Giuseppe Taliercio court, in a match they dominated from the first quarter with a wide lead of 27-16; while in the second period the home team prevailed by the minimum 16-15.

Thus at the end of the first half they were ahead on the scoreboard with a count of 42-32; and in the third quarter they increased their lead with a score of 20-15; while in the final segment they were outscored 19-20, but without risking the victory.

For the winners, Klemen Prepelic stood out offensively with 17 points, and Mike Tobey (16); and for the home team, Martynas Echodas (16) and Jeff Brooks (11) were highlighted.

In Rivero's case, he barely played just over five minutes, scoring one point and capturing two rebounds.

Moving to the team statistics, Valencia Basket was superior in all departments, including field goal shooting with an effectiveness of 53.6 percent, the result of 30 baskets in 56 attempts; compared to 40.7% (24/59) for their opponents.

Furthermore, from the three-point line the Spanish club did it for 36.0% (9/25), and Reyer Venezia for a very modest 12.0%, with only three three-pointers in 25 attempts.

As for free throws, both teams were inefficient with 62.5% (10/16) for the visitors and 56.0% (14/25) for the home team; while on the boards the Valencians captured 37 rebounds compared to only 22 for their opponents.