By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Jordan Loyd and Corey Wolden didn’t make the trip to France for nothing. In a postponed game for the Round 4 of the EuroLeague regular season and a contest which was decided in the third period, Czrvena Zvezda got the easy 89-68 win on the road over LDLC ASVEL.
Loyd with 29 points and Walden with 20 got the job done, combining also for five rebounds, seven assists, and nine steals. Loyd committed four turnovers, while Wolden didn’t have any. Against such a magnificent performance, ASVEL couldn’t do much, trailing by 14 at the end of the third (67-53) and not having any chance for a comeback after that.
“Everybody stepped up, everybody did a hell of a job and made the outcome a lot easier. It’s not about the points for me,” Loyd said. “Corey [Walden] played a hell of a game, Duop Reath played a great game, coach had a great game plan. I’m not really worried about the points. We needed to answer on defense and we did, and I’m happy about that.”
Allerik Freeman with just 12 points was the leading scorer of the home team, however, that’s just a footnote. Trailing by six at halftime (44-38) the home side was in the game until three minutes before the end of the third quarter. At that point, a 9-0 run made the score 67-51 for Zvezda and that proved to be game over.
“We did not elevate our level of fight and it was shown on the scoreboard today… We have to do a better job as a team in defense and raise our level, especially in defense,” ASVEL guard David Lighty said.
For Mileta Lisica
After the end of the game, Red Star coach Sasha Obradovic dedicated the win to his friend and former Zvezda player Mileta Lisica who died at the age of 54 on Wednesday (11/11) after a long illness.
Sasa Obradovic dedicated the win over ASVEL to former Crvena Zvezda player Mileta Lisica who passed away today pic.twitter.com/Q1K3XqKu3r
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) November 11, 2020
Later, in the post-game presser, Obradovic also dedicated the win to French club and former team AS Monaco. “They really wanted to win and I’m happy for them too. Rooting for them,” Obradovic said with a smile.
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball