Valencia beat Unicaja Malaga 68-62 in EuroCup Finals Game 1

fter an intense showdown, Valencia Basket claimed a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three 7DAYS EuroCup Finals with a 68-62 victory over Unicaja Malaga on Tuesday at Fuente De San Luis. For Valencia, this marks its record fifth EuroCup final and the club seeks its fourth title, which would be twice as much as any other team. Unicaja aims to become the first newcomer to win the EuroCup since Hapoel Jerusalem in 2004. Unicaja hosts Game 2 on Friday, March 31 at 21:00 CET. If Game 3 is needed, it will be played in Valencia on Wednesday, April 5. The 7DAYS EuroCup winner earns the right to play in the 2017-18 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. Valencia trailed by double figures early, but came back to tie the game by the end of the first quarter. The hosts led by 2 heading into the fourth quarter, but took over down the stretch to claim the victory. Bojan Dubljevic paced the winner with 14 points and 8 rebounds and also finished the game as the EuroCup’s all-time leading scorer, a distinction teammate Rafa Martinez briefly held during the game, too. Joan Sastra added 13 points for Valencia, which recorded its 22nd consecutive home win in all competitions - nine of them in the EuroCup. Jeff Brooks paced Unicaja with 11 points and Alen Omic posted 8 points and 12 rebounds in defeat.