ASVEL comes on top in fierce fight in Kaunas 18
Zalgiris Kaunas faced a 68-72 defeat at the hands of ASVEL Villeurbanne in the EuroLeague Round 31 face-off in Zalgirio Arena.
ASVEL improved to 8-17 in the standings while Zalgiris dropped to 7-19. Elie Okobo led the winners with 21 points. Chris Jones added 16 points and Victor Wembanyama tallied 14 points and 5 blocks for ASVEL.
Edgaras Ulanovas paced Zalgiris with 15 points, Arturas Milaknis added 11 and Paulius Jankunas and Lukas Lekavicius each had 10 for the hosts.
Josh Nebo got Zalgiris going with a jump hook and Ulanovas scored in the low post in a 7-0 opening run that Karolis Lukosiunas capped with a triple. Wembanyama and Chris Jones stepped up for ASVEL, bringing their team within 9-5. Okobo downed a three-pointer off the dribble and David Lighty tied it at 9-9. Joffrey Lauvergne scored around the basket and Jankunas buried his trademark mid-range jumper, restoring a 13-9 Zalgiris lead. Youssoupha Fall followed a dunk with a layup to bring the guests within 14-13. Jankunas struck from downtown, but Fall drew ASVEL within 17-15 after 10 minutes.
Neils Giffey took over with a three-point play early in the second quarter. Jones matched it with a bomb from beyond the arc and Knight followed a mid-range jumper with a triple to give ASVEL its first lead, 22-23. Ulanovas downed a turnaround jumper which Wembanyama bettered with a huge dunk-and-one. Giffey hit a running hook and Nebo added a floater for a 28-26 Zalgiris edge. Lekavicius erased Wembanyama’s slam with a wild driving layup. Okobo quickly answered with a coast-to-coast layup for a 30-31 ASVEL lead. Ulanovas stepped up with a layup which Jones erased with a step-back jumper to keep the guests ahead, 32-33, at halftime.
Wembanyama buried a running hook soon after the break and matched Ulanovas’s layup with a put-back basket. Jones soon buried a turnaround jumper and Lighty copied him right after that, prompting Zalgiris to call timeout at 34-41. Okobo buried a step-back shot at the free throw that came with it to make it a double-digit game, 34-44. Fall capped a 0-11 run with a close basket, as Milaknis quickly struck twice from downtown. Jones joined the three-point shootout, but a red-hot Milaknis followed another triple with a reverse layup off the baseline to bring Zalgiris even closer, 45-49. Jankunas dunked to fix the score at 47-49 at the end of the third quarter.
Jankunas struck from beyond the arc to complete Zalgiris’s comeback, 50-49, early in the fourth quarter. Okobo buried a running jumper and Jones sank a four-meter shot to give ASVEL some fresh air at 50-53. Lekavicius followed a three-pointer with a floater and the guests called timeout at 55-53. Jones stepped up for ASVEL with a jumper that Ulanovas improved on with a shot from downtown. Tyler Cavanaugh hit a fallaway jumper, but Okobo did better with an off-balance rainbow triple to tie it at 60-60. Wembanyama nailed a turnaround jumper and Okobo followed that with a catch-and-shoot three-pointer that caused Zalgiris to call timeout at 60-65 with 3 minutes left. Okobo matched Cavanaugh’s triple with his own shot from downtown and soon gave ASVEL a 63-70 margin already in the final minute. Lekavicius and Cavanaugh, however, got Zalgiris within 68-70 with 17.1 seconds remaining. Lighty made free throws to seal the outcome.
Facebook comments