By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Norris Cole scored a team-high 21 points as ASVEL Villeurbanne beat Barcelona 76 – 69 on the road to sweep them 2-0 in the EuroLeague regular season while registering their sixth win in a row in EuroLeague.
“We knew the game is going to be close and it’s going to come down in the last minutes,” Cole, who drained four free throws in the last minute to secure his team’s win, said. “It’s my job to close the game the right way. It’s a good team win.” William Howard (13 points, eight rebounds), Moustapha Fall (13 points) and David Lighty (13 points) also scored in double figures for TJ Parker’s team.
Cole drained the go-ahead 3-pointer for the 58 – 61 in the mid of the fourth period and William Howard added one of his one to hand ASVEL a six-point lead with 4:49 to play. The two teams were going toe-to-toe in the entire game until that moment, with none of them being able to go up by more than four points in their many exchanging leads.
Cory Higgins got Barca to closer at 64 – 66 but then ASVEL made another 0 – 6 run to get at a three-possession advantage again. After Higgins drained a pair of free throws for the 69 – 72 with 37 seconds to play to keep the Blaugrana alive, his team immediately fouled Cole. The two-time NBA champion made a pair of free throws and then added another following a missed 3-point shot by Nikola Mirotic to keep his team at a safe distance.
Brandon Davies finished with 22 points and eight rebounds for Barca while Mirotic had 19 points and five rebounds, spending the last stretch of the game on foul trouble.
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball