By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With the score tied entering the last two minutes, everyone thought that Barcelona would complete a comeback.
However, ASVEL at home is a different animal and got the 100-94 win as Barcelona dropped to 13-10 and a four-way tie with Real Madrid, Crvena Zvezda, and Bayern Munich between the 6th and the 9th spot, while the French side improved to 11-12.
Theo Maledon with 18 points and nine assists was the start of the show, however, Andre Roberson added 17 points, the duo of Paris Lee and Neal Sako scored 14 points each and Tarik Black had 13.
“We really stuck together and did an amazing job to get the win. We just kept trusting each other, playing for one another, got some stops defensively, and Paris Lee hit the big three that made a difference. We need to just stay focused, and have the mentality that we didn’t do anything yet—just take one game at a time,” Maledon said after the game.
Last but not least, Nando De Colo had 12 points on 4/5 FG.
Kevin Punter tried his best with 19 points, Jabari Parker also had 18, but the Catalans couldn’t close the game the right way.
“It’s very difficult to win away in this EuroLeague, especially when you concede 100 points. Our defense tonight was soft and lacked energy. They scored a lot of easy baskets with very good percentages“, Barcelona’s coach, Joan Pennarroya said.
ASVEL hanging on until the end
After a balanced first period with ASVEL leading 23-21, the hosts took a 39-28 lead which was a sign for things to happen.
Barcelona bounced back and closed the first half trailing by six (48-42) with Maledon scoring already 15 points, but at the start of the third period, ASVEL again got a double-digit advantage (69-42).
The French side entered the last quarter leading by six (76-69) and Barcelona finally Barcelona started their ultimate push, tying the score at 93 with one minute and a half left in the game.
Paris Lee answered with a big three (96-93), Barcelona’s Jabari Parker missed, Andre Roberson also did the same for ASVEL, and then Dario Brizuela lost the ball.
Nando De Colo went to the free throw line to make two (98-93) with 20 seconds left and the game was over.
Roberson stole the ball in the next play in the inbound pass and dunked the ball to make it 100-93 before Parker trimmed the final point difference with one made free throw.