EuroLeague | Valencia Basket Stages Comeback to Beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 94-83 at Roig Arena

Valencia Basket and Maccabi Tel Aviv faced off in Matchday 25 of the EuroLeague at the Roig Arena. Despite controversy surrounding the Israeli team's visit, the club allowed season ticket holders to attend. Valencia mounted an impressive second-half comeback to secure a vital victory.

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Heading into the matchup, Valencia Basket sat seventh in the standings with a record of 15-9, while the Israeli side was in fourteenth place at 10-14. Both clubs needed a win to stay on track with their regular season objectives.

For Valencia Basket, center Matt Costello was unavailable due to left knee soreness, the only injury absence for the Valencia squad. Isaac Nogués and Yankuba Sima were held out by coaching decision.

• Valencia Basket Starting Five: Brancou Badio, Darius Thompson, Kameron Taylor, Jaime Pradilla, and Neal Sako.
• Maccabi Tel Aviv Starting Five: Jimmy Clark, Lundberg, Hoard, Rayman, and Sorkin.

Neal Sako opened the scoring with an alley-oop assist from Kameron Taylor, with Hoard quickly tying it at 2-2. Jaime Pradilla hit the game's first three-pointer from the wing to extend Valencia's lead to 7-2. Lundberg answered with a three from distance to tie it at 7.

Hoard put Maccabi ahead 7-9 with a two-pointer. Pedro Martínez called Valencia's first timeout after Maccabi went on a 0-11 run with five minutes left in the quarter, trailing 9-16.

The timeout didn't help as Maccabi hit another three-pointer to extend their lead to 10 points at 9-19. Valencia struggled defensively in the opening quarter, with Maccabi's offense clicking efficiently. Hoard led all scorers with 6 points at the end of the first quarter. (21-27)

Kameron Taylor opened the second quarter with a two-pointer plus a foul, though he missed the free throw (23-27).

Valencia continued to struggle as the minutes ticked by, forcing Pedro Martínez to call another timeout with his team down 8 points at 25-33. The orange squad showed poor defensive intensity while Maccabi dominated the offensive glass. Kameron Taylor's turnovers and Braxton Key's three fouls in 12 minutes were hurting Valencia's effort.

With five minutes left in the half, Maccabi extended their lead to 11 points at 27-38. Valencia couldn't find their rhythm before halftime, with Josep Puerto hitting a three-pointer in the final seconds of the half. (44-50)

Kameron Taylor opened the second half with a three-pointer (47-50), followed by Badio's basket in the paint to cut it to one point (49-50). Valencia was playing well and took the lead when Neal Sako scored off an alley-oop from Taylor (51-50). The home team had gone on a 10-0 run with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Visiting coach Kattash called a timeout with five minutes left in the quarter with the score tied at 57. Tamir Blatt answered with a three-pointer to put Maccabi back ahead at 57-60.

The game looked difficult for Valencia, who despite taking the lead in the third quarter couldn't match Maccabi's shooting accuracy with ten minutes remaining. Maccabi had the last shot with 19 seconds left but missed a three-pointer. Everything was still to play for in the final ten minutes. Kameron Taylor led all scorers with 13 points. (66-68)

Valencia started the fourth quarter down 2 points but tied it immediately on the first possession with an alley-oop from Darius Thompson to Neal Sako (68-68).

A spectacular dunk from Omari Moore put Valencia ahead 74-73, but Clark answered with a three-pointer to give Maccabi the lead at 74-76. Kameron Taylor, playing at an MVP level, hit a three-pointer plus a foul and converted the free throw to put Valencia up 2 at 78-76. Neal Sako added a two-pointer plus a foul and made the free throw to extend Valencia's lead to 81-76. An excellent fourth quarter performance by Valencia Basket secured the home victory in a game where they came from behind. Jean Montero led all scorers with 18 points. (94-83)

A vital victory for the orange squad, who had trailed by 12 points at the end of the second quarter. Considering last week's loss in Munich and with two upcoming road games ahead, winning at home against a lower-ranked opponent was crucial.

A solid Neal Sako and an excellent Kameron Taylor, among others, led Valencia to victory in front of their home crowd. Jean Montero also played a key role with 18 points.

Valencia Basket's next game is this Sunday at 5:00 PM against Força Lleida in Matchday 18 of the ACB League. Looking ahead to next week, Pedro Martínez's team faces a tough stretch with back-to-back EuroLeague road games against Anadolu Efes and Hapoel Tel Aviv, followed by a weekend matchup against Joventut in Badalona.