Fabien Causeur, Gabriel Deck sealed Real Madrid’s road win
Real Madrid benefitted from two big individual performances from Fabien Causeur and Gabriel Deck on the way to securing a tough road win, 71-75, at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Friday.
Firstly, Causeur delivered his best display of the season as he returned to his native France. The veteran came into the game averaging just 4.6 points per game on modest shooting percentages of 43.9% from two-point range and 31.6% on three-pointers, but he blew those stats out of the water in an excellent opening three quarters.
Causeur gave himself confidence by scoring Real's first basket of the game and soon added another bucket, before saving his biggest contribution after the break. He scored the first basket of the second half and then matched former international teammate Nando De Colo with a pair of triples, prior to adding free throws to take his third quarter tally to 10 points and his overall total to a season-high 14 points on 5-of-6 field goal attempts.
Causeur’s efforts were nearly enough to secure the victory as he took Real into a 44-59 lead… but not quite, because ASVEL then came roaring back to make it a 2-point game midway through the final period. But that was when Real’s other main protagonist took over, with Deck launching a personal 0-6 run with a tough mid-range jumper and two determined layups in the space of 73 seconds. Deck then made sure of victory with another powerful drive in the last minute, and his 8 fourth-quarter points in his overall total of 12 were enough to take the win back home to Spain.