The French side ruined coach Luca Banchi’s debut on Efes bench
Defensive-minded ASVEL rallies to stun Efes, 76-82
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne came back from an 11-point third-quarter deficit, not allowing a single field goal in the fourth quarter, as it beat Anadolu Efes Istanbul 76-82 on Friday night. The win improved ASVEL to a 9-11 record and saw Pierric Poupet's men sweep the season series against Efes, which dropped to 10-10 and 0-1 under new head coach Luca Banchi.
Efes led 57-46 and held multiple 10-point leads in the third quarter, but ASVEL went on a 2-16 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to take a 68-73 lead, which the visitors never relinquished. Nando De Colo scored 16 points, making all 5 of his field goals including 4 three-pointers, while Black had 15 points and 7 assists. Theo Maledon also scored 15, and Shaquille Harrison had 11 points in a winning effort. Shane Larkin and Vincent Poirier scored 14 apiece for the hosts, Ercan Osmani scored 13, and Elijah Bryant 12 points in a loss.
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Andre Roberson’s second-chance triple opened the scoring, giving ASVEL an early boost and a 1-7 lead. Back-to-back triples from Larkin and Darius Thompson tied things at 9-9, but Melvin Ajinca hit a pair of triples to give ASVEL an 11-17 edge. Bryant and Harrison traded three-pointers before Dan Oturu scored twice inside, but thanks to Harrison and Maledon, the visitors held a 20-24 advantage after 10 minutes.
Harrison hit a triple to open the second quarter to help extend the lead to eight points. Rolands Smits and Bryant got Efes going again, but David Lighty had a jumper and Maledon took it to the rim to make it 24-33. But Efes stepped up defensively, playing better defense on Maledon, while Smits and Poirier started dominating under ASVEL’s basket. The duo combined to score 7 points, before Osmani capped a 9-0 run to tie the game. Paris Lee netted a triple, but Osmani battled his way for 6 more points to give Efes a 41-38 halftime lead.
Back-to-back triples from Larkin and Osmani opened a 47-38 margin. Maledon hit a triple and Lee added another one of his own to cut it to 51-46. But Poirier scored inside, then Larkin fed Jordan Nwora then raced for a fast-break layup to give the hosts a 57-46 advantage, the first double-digit lead of the game. De Colo hit back-to-back triples before Thompson and Roberson traded close-range baskets. Oturu helped the hosts restore a double-digit margin, 64-54, but De Colo hit another one from long range and Tarik Black scored twice from close range, including a dunk that made it 66-61 after 30 minutes.
De Colo opened the fourth with a three-pointer that made it a two-point game, forcing an Efes timeout after only 61 seconds. Efes was without a single point for exactly 5 minutes, as Maledon and Harrison found their way to the free-throw line, and Black scored twice inside for ASVEL to restore its lead, 68-73. Bryant and Poirier made free throws to end Efes’s scoring drought, but Black scored twice more inside to keep the visitors ahead, 74-77, with 2 minutes to go. ASVEL kept it up defensively, not allowing a field goal the rest of the way, as De Colo and Black sealed the deal.