Valencia beats Real Madrid thanks to Sam Van Rossom (VIDEO)

Valencia beats Real Madrid thanks to a big performance from Sam Van Rossom.

From the start, Valencia shooted very well from long range (12/26 to 3 points) to take the lead (29-21). Well launched, the teammates of the Belgian international continued at the same pace (55-35). Back to the wall, Real Madrid relied on Walter Tavares (11 points and 9 rebounds) and Jaycee Carroll (20 points) to limit the damage (71-52). But Valencia managed his lead in the last quarter (89-78).

Sam Van Rossom finished the game as Valencia’s top scorer with 16 points. He added 8 assists and 1 rebound in 25 minutes.

“They came out of the locker room more aggressive than in the first half, which shouldn’t surprise us. We were not really ready for it during the first offenses [of the second half]. But after that, we calmed down a little bit and went back to our game from the first half, which was very good. I think that was the key. It is going to be a hard battle. I think that, as you see, there are a lot of teams involved [in the playoffs race]. Every game is super important. Now we go three games on the road which should be very important to see where we can get this season.“, said Van Rossom after the game.

In the standings, Valencia, 10th, finds a positive record of 13 wins for 12 losses before moving to Russia, Zenit Saint Petersburg, next Thursday on behalf of the 26th day in the Euroleague.

For his part, Villeurbanne, without Ismael Bako, won at home against the Bayern Munich (87-79). In the standings, they line up for a sixth success in a row to post a record of 11 wins for 14 losses and find themselves 13th. Next Friday, Villeurbanne will travel and Spain to face Barcelona.