By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
At the start of the second quarter, ASVEL led by five (30-25). After that, the game was all Zalgiris.
The hosts got the easy 85-67 win, getting a 15-13 record and making one more step toward the postseason, while the French side dropped to 8-20 and it’s officially eliminated from the playoffs.
Ignas Braizdekis with 19 points, Isaiah Taylor with 15, and Achille Polonara with 11 and six rebounds led the way on a team effort that ended up being a triumph in front of a sold-out crowd.
Zalgiris finished the first half leading by 10 (47-37), jumped to a 15-point lead at the end of the third (65-50), and never had any trouble along the way.
As Zalgiris head coach Kazys Maksvytis said: “It was a typical double-round week second game, not too much quality, but I think everything about our effort was good. I’m very happy with the efforts our team gave. It wasn’t easy to play back-to-back, so I think defense and effort helped us to win this game. Against Olympiacos, one of the best teams, we’ll need the same effort but much better quality.”
Jonah Mathews with 18 points was the top scorer of the losing side, which once more missed head coach TJ Parker due to back issues.
Morgan Belnou who served once more as ASVEL head coach admitted: “We lost the game in the second quarter after we let the transition game of Zalgiris go, and then the game became too difficult.”
The bottom line for Zalgiris remains the win and as Polonara said, it was all about defense “Our key was playing more physically than them because they are a very physical team. We played good defense also, because they scored less than 70 points, so it was a very, very good game. We understood [after the first quarter] that we needed to put different energy on the court, so also from the bench, we tried to put more energy and another rhythm to the game.
Plus the energy of the fans also helped, as the Lithuanians played once more in a sold-out gym and the Italian forward was impressed:”The fans supported us a lot, so it’s amazing playing here. Especially when we play at home with these fans, it’s incredible.”
A night to remember for Nando De Colo
Meanwhile, Nando De Colo surpassed Juan Carlos Navarro and became the All-Time second-leading scorer in the Euroleague, having nine points in the game.
With a total of 4154 points so far, ASVEL’s star is only behind the All-Time leader Vassilis Spanoulis who finished his career with 4455 points.
It has to be noted that in early February, De Colo surpassed legendary Greek scorer Nikos Galis as the All-Time top scorer in the unofficial list of points scored in all club continental competitions.