The home team scored the last 6 points of a thrilling game to force the final twist as Theo Maledon shined
Brave ASVEL claws out impressive home win over Zvezda, 77-74
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne ground out a hard-fought 77-74 home win over Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in Round 10 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, improving to 3-7 while the visitors dropped to 5-5.
Theo Maledon produced a majestic performance as he paced the home team with a game-high 26 points and veteran center Joffrey Lauvergne chipped in with 13 points and 10 boards, while David Lighty added 12 points for ASVEL.
At the other end, Filip Petrusev served up another fine display to lead Zvezda with 18 points and 7 boards, but the Serbian side fell short of completing a road treble over French opposition. Having beaten Paris Basketball 77-80 in Round 1, Zvezda also sank AS Monaco 90-98 earlier this week. Isaiah Canaan netted 14 points and Yago Dos Santos amassed 13 for the Serbian team, which threw away a 71-74 lead in the final minute as Maledon stepped up for ASVEL.
Game Videos
The game was played at frantic pace throughout as ASVEL carved out a 24-20 advantage at the end of the first quarter on the back of 8 points each from Maledon and Lighty, while Petrusev racked up 9 at the other end with Zvezda collecting 5 offensive boards.
The hosts upped the tempo in the second as Lauvergne started causing Zvezda all sorts of problems in the paint and ASVEL romped away into a 43-32 halftime lead, shooting 5 of 9 from deep and winning the battle of the boards 18-13 in the opening half.
ASVEL kept its foot on the gas early in the third quarter and extended its lead to 47-34 before Zvezda replied with a 4-15 run on the back of 3 three-pointers from Canaan, who found his rage from downtown to haul his team back into the contest.
The home team appeared to be firmly in the driving seat early in the fourth after surging ahead 61-51, but Zvezda again hit back with a 0-11 streak to turn the tables and nose ahead. A tit-for-tat battle ensued in the home straight and the visiting team looked the more likely winner after Canaan hit a baseline triple to give it a 71-74 lead with 55 seconds left on the clock.
However, ASVEL had the last laugh as Nando De Colo sank a pair of free throws before Maledon buried a layup and then made no mistake from the foul line to make it 77-74. Milos Teodosic failed to force overtime from deep on Zvezda’s last possession, sparking loud celebrations among the home fans.