By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
It was a real battle and in the end, Theo Maledon and LDLC ASVEL were the big winners.
The French side got the 77-74 win over Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet as Maledon scored 26 points and made all the big plays in the end.
Joffrey Lauvergne had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, David Lighty added 12 points, and former NBA player Andre Roberson did a bit of everything with six points, six rebounds, and four blocks.
“This is one feels great, we got the lead, they made their run but we made great things in the end because we were losing game that we should have won”, said Maledon
Crvena Zvezda was playing with the injured duo of Ognen Dobric and Nemanja Nedovic and got 18 points from Filip Petrusev and 14 from Isaiah Canaan, but couldn’t make a play in the end, dropping to a 5-5 record, and ASVEL getting their third win of the season.
A thriller in the closing minutes
ASVEL got a 24-20 lead after a balanced first period, but in the second they created a solid distance with a 14-5 run to make the score 43-32 at halftime after a three by Charles Kahudi.
Big men Lauvergne with 11 points from the home side and Petrusev with 12 for the guests dominated the offense in the first 20 minutes of action.
Still, things changed in the third period with Zvezda trimming the lead to two points (51-49) as Canaan reached the 11-point mark with his third three-point shot in the game.
Robinson answered back with a three (54-49) and ASVEL closed the quarter up by seven (58-51) and then by 10 (61-51) after a Maledon three.
Zvezda reacted with two threes also, by Milos Teodosic and Yago Dos Santos, a free throw by Luka Mitrovic, and two by Mike Daum to make it a one-point game (61-60) with a 9-0 run.
The game turned into a dogfight, nothing was going on for the hosts and finally Teodosic from the free throws line gave Zvezda the lead (62-61). Lauvergne answered immediately for ASVEL (63-62) as the lead constantly changed for the next few minutes.
Entering the last two minutes the score was tied at 71 after a three by Maledon and one minute later, Canaan made a big three for Zvezda (74-71).
Nando De Colo trimmed the lead to one (74-73) from the free throws line with 39 seconds left. With the game on the line, Codi Miller-McIntyre drove to the basket but was stopped by Shaquille Harrison, Maledon gave ASVEL the lead (75-74) and Zvezda had one last chance with 13 seconds on the clock.
The ball went to Petrusev in the paint with Maledon guarding him, but the Serb big man was called for an offensive foul.
The French guard went to the free-throw line after getting fouled by Teodosic with six seconds left. He made two (77-74) and Teodosic missed the last shot in the end.