ESP – Valencia stop the rot and thrilling wins for Unicaja, Fuenlabrada and Menorca

VALENCIA (ACB) - The Svetislav Pesic era at Power Electronics Valencia started on a winning note on Sunday when his team beat CAI Zaragoza 83-72 at home in the Spanish ACB.

Valencia had lost six in a row in Spain and four three of four in the Euroleague when they decided to part with coach Manuel Hussein and appoint Pesic, the man who led Yugoslavia to the 2002 world title.

They turned on the style early at home against Zaragoza, outscoring them 28-13 in the first quarter and using that great start as a platform for victory.

Victor Claver buried five of seven shots from behind the arc on his way to a game-high 22 points for Valencia, with Dusko Savanovic scoring 17, Rafa Martinez 16 and Nando De Colo 15.

“We played a team that has a lot of experience and is in good form,” Pesic said.

“What is clear is that the Valencia players want to show their talent and we’re very pleased by the win.”

Unicaja Malaga scraped a 58-57 win at Menorca when the home side's Cuthbert Victor missed a shot in the closing a seconds.

Ten players scored for Unicaja but no one reached double digits in their one-point victory at Menorca.

Fuenlabrada and Manresa also claimed one-point triumphs over Granada and Lagun Aro GBC, respectively.

In Fuenlabrada’s success, the score was knotted at 72-72 when Leo Mainoldi drove into the lane and scored for the home side with six seconds remaining.

After a timeout, Granada inbounded the ball and Jon Stefansson drove baseline but missed a runner.

Manresa won in the closing seconds when Rodrigo San Miguel dribbled into the paint and banked in a runner.

Cajasol Sevilla, Asefa Estudiantes, DKV Joventut and Real Madrid also won.

Luis Bullock and Txemi Urtasun scored 16 points apiece as Cajasol prevailed 80-76 at home over Gran Canaria.

Estu continued their recent fine play by rolling to a 92-72 victory over Meridiano Alicante - a seventh defeat in eight games for the team. After the defeat, the club announced they had decided to relieve Oscar Quintana from his coaching duties.

Nik Caner-Medley had 24 points for Estudiantes.

DKV earn an important win on the road at Bilbao, 92-85.

Dutch center Henk Norel and Canadian Carl English each poured in 15 points for DKV.

Real Madrid prevailed 87-82 at home over Blancos de Rueda Valladolid with Ante Tomic and Carlos Suarez both scoring 16 points.

Barcelona were swept 3-0 by Caja Laboral in last season’s ACB Finals but that Vitoria side had Tiago Splitter.

He’s now in the NBA with San Antonio but Caja Laboral still won on Saturday when they outscored Barca 33-16 in the last quarter for an 87-80 home win.

Caja Laboral do have Stanko Barac.

The Croatia center signed a long contract extension at the club earlier this season, and he had 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Brad Oleson (18pts) was four of five from long range for Caja Laboral while Fernando San Emeterio (15pts) and Mirza Teletovic (17pts) each hit three shots from the arc.

Ricky Rubio led Barcelona with 15 points and eight assists. Juan Carlos Navarro didn’t play for the Catalans.

FIBA