U18 Zalgiris falls short against ASVEL 0

U18 ASVEL Villeurbanne held off U18 Zalgiris Kaunas 84-82 for its second win in 2021 Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament.

ASVEL nearly wasted a 14-point lead in the final 4 minutes, but managed to move to 2-1 record in Group A, thanks to 23 points from Kenny Kasiama and Kymany Houinsou collecting 16 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists.

Zalgiris will head back home with three losses. Paulius Murauskas poured in 27 points and Kajus Kublickas scored 11 points in the defeat.

Liutauras Lelevicius hit a three-pointer as Zalgiris went up 1-6 in the early going. Kasiama answered with 8 points in a 14-7 surge to put the French side up 15-13. Daryl Doualla converted a basket-plus-foul before Felix De Almeida hit from long range for ASVEL, but Zalgiris had the game even 23-23 after 10 minutes.

ASVEL just could not convert on offense in the second frame and Zalgiris moved ahead 23-30 until Houinsou’s put-back after nearly 5 minutes of action. ASVEL got back into the game and was within 36-38 at the break.

Dovydas Butka knocked down a triple early in the second half as Zalgiris was up 39-43 and a Titas Sargiunas three-point play helped make it 45-52. ASVEL rushed back and Kasiama and Malwaya combined for 15 points in a 19-3 run to close the third quarter, giving ASVEL a 64-55 cushion.

After Noah Manet opened the final quarter with a three-pointer to extend the gap to 12 points, Murauskas keyed a 0-7 spurt for Zalgiris. ASVEL’s defense stepped up and Francois Wibaut scored 4 points in an 8-0 run for an 80-66 lead with 4 minutes remaining. Zalgiris refused to go down without a fight, scoring 11 straight points to pull within 80-77, and a Sargiunas layup trimmed the gap to 83-82 with 11 seconds to play. Romain Parmentelot could only split two free throws with 10.0 seconds to play but Radvilas Kneizys’ three-pointer to win was off the mark.