ESP – France duo De Colo, Pietrus lead Valencia in comeback win at Manresa

MANRESA (ACB) - One star in the Cholet side that reached last season’s EuroChallenge Final, Rodrigue Beaubois, is impressing in his rookie season with the Dallas Mavericks.

A teammate of his in that Cholet team, Nando De Colo, is showing signs he'll be joining him very soon in the NBA.

De Colo, who was drafted last summer by the San Antonio Spurs, led Power Electronics Valencia with 21 points on Saturday night as the Spanish club came from behind in the fourth quarter to stun Suzuki Manresa, 84-82.

The point guard made three of six shots from long range while fellow France international Florent Pietrus poured in nine points and pulled down four rebounds.

Both were influential over the final six minutes when fourth-place Valencia hit back from a 13-point deficit to win for the 18th time in 23 games this season.

They were either making three-pointers, scoring on drives to the basket with lay-ups or dunks, or making free-throws.

Two De Colo free-throws gave Valencia an 82-81 lead in the final minute.

After Rodrigo San Miguel made just one of two from the stripe to tie the game, Manresa fouled Pietrus and he sank two for an 84-82 lead.

Manresa still had time to pull level or hit a game-winning three-ball but Roman Martinez threw the ball out of bounds on Manresa’s last possession.

De Colo and Pietrus will be in the France squad later this year when Les Bleus take on Spain, Lithuania, Lebanon, Canada and New Zealand in the First Round of the FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

Meanwhile, former Spain coach Pepu Hernandez was appointed coach of DKV Joventut last week following the dismissal of Sito Alonso but wasn't on the bench as DKV Joventut crashed to a 104-79 defeat at Caja Laboral.

Canada international Carl English erupted for a season-high 27 points for second-place Caja Laboral (20-4).

English, who will play with his national team at the FIBA World Championship in Turkey later this year, made seven of 12 shots from long range.

He also grabbed six rebounds for Dusko Ivanovic's team, which dominated despite the absence of injured Brazil center Tiago Splitter.

English's old club, Gran Canaria (11-13), slumped to an 81-76 defeat at Ayuda En Accion Fuenlabrada (10-14), with Israeli Tal Burstein scoring 21 in the victory.

Australia international Joe Ingles had 15 points and six assists for CB Granada (10-14) but they fell at home to Estudiantes, 84-75. Estu improved to 12-12.

Elsewhere, table-toppers Regal FC Barcelona (22-2) recorded a comfortable 73-59 road win over Blancos de Rueda thanks to Terence Morris' 20 points and eight rebounds. Erazem Lorbek added 17 for the visitors.

Real Madrid had a tougher time in seeing off Xacobeo Blu:sens 92-80 in the Spanish capital and had Travis Hansen's hot hand to thank for coming out on top. The wingman buried five of six three-point attempts on his way to a team-high 17 points

The home side trailed 22-9 early on but used a 14-2 spurt to close within one. A three-point shooting barrage then gave them a 49-43 lead by halftime and they pulled away gradually in the second half.



FIBA