LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne wins back-to-back games for the first time since Rounds 22 and 23
ASVEL beats Zalgiris, 88-79, to finish week with two home wins

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne completed a perfect double-round week by fighting off Zalgiris Kaunas 88-79 at home. After beating Olympiacos Piraeus at home on Tuesday, ASVEL shot 44.4 percent on three-pointers and forced 20 Zalgiris turnovers as it improved to 13-19 on the season.
Theo Maledon led the way with 19 points and 6 assists while Nando De Colo had 16 points and Paris Lee chipped in 12 points on 4 triples.
Zalgiris came into the game having lost at AS Monaco earlier in the week in overtime and now has dropped three straight games and four of the last five for a 14-18 record. Sylvain Francisco collected 19 points and 8 assists and Laurynas Birutis tied his career high with 18 points and had 8 rebounds.
Game Videos
ASVEL jumped ahead right away with a 10-2 lead with Maledon hitting a three-pointer for 5 points while Zalgiris connected on just 1 of its first 10 shots. The visitors finally started to make shots, but the cushion grew to double figures at 23-13 after a Maledon three-point play and Lee triple. Zalgiris got the gap to 23-18 after 10 minutes.
Birutis had two alley-oops for 10 points in getting Zalgiris within 23-22. ASVEL needed nearly 3 minutes to score with Edwin Jackson hitting a three-pointer. Maledon continued his strong game with 8 points and an assist as the lead was 36-26. Zalgiris trimmed the deficit to 4 points and the score was 40-34 at the break.
While Andre Roberson had 5 points for the hosts, Francisco tried to keep Zalgiris close, twice making it a 4-point game. ASVEL extended the cushion to 8 points again, but Zalgiris would not go away. Alen Smailagic, Francisco and Deividas Sirvydis all made triples in a 4-15 surge for Zalgiris’s first lead of the game, 55-58. Lee and De Colo both knocked down long balls and the home side led 63-61 after 30 minutes.
Lee and De Colo went back-to-back from long range early in the final frame and the advantage was 69-61. Two Birutis scores were answered by a David Lighty three-pointer to make it 74-65. It was 78-70 after Lee’s fourth triple. Zalgiris answered with the next 5 points for a three-point margin only to see Lighty drain another big three-pointer, De Colo converted 3 free throws for an 88-79 margin with 40 seconds left.