The Italian team completed a perfect double-round week, but had to fight hard for the win on Friday night
Milan beats ASVEL, 92-84, to extend winning streak to five
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan completed a perfect double-round week with a 92-84 home victory over LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne to extend its winning streak to five games. Milan gained control of the game with a 16-5 run spanning the final two quarters for its first 10-point lead to improve to 8-6 with seven wins in the last eight games. The Italians also are 6-2 at home, including five straight victories at Unipol Forum.
Zach LeDay and Nikola Mirotic both scored 17 points, Armoni Brooks had 14 points, Nico Mannion tallied 11 points and 4 assists, and Fabien Causeur chipped in 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 6 steals. ASVEL saw its modest two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 5-9 with a 0-7 road record. Theo Maledon scored 24 points and Joffrey Lauvergne had 19 points in the loss.
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Milan’s offense could not get going at all early, with just two free throws in the first 4 minutes, while four different ASVEL scorers had baskets in a 2-8 lead before Mirotic scored the hosts' first basket. Milan buried two triples and cut the gap to 10-12, only to see Maledon convert a three-point play and Melvin Ajinca hit a three-pointer to make it 12-18. Two LeDay baskets knotted the game 18-18 and ASVEL was up 18-20 after the first quarter.
Lauvergne took over in the second quarter with two lefty hooks, a floater and three-pointer to help ASVEL jump ahead 24-29. Milan would not let the guests get away, twice making it a one-point game before finally taking its first lead on two Causeur free throws for 34-33. LeDay added a three-pointer as Milan was up 37-33. And Milan led 41-36 at the break.
A Causeur three-pointer increased the margin to 8 points at 46-38. ASVEL scored 3 points on three consecutive possessions to stick close and Maledon made it 53-51. Two Milan veterans made milestone baskets, with Causeur hitting 2,500 points and Shavon Shields reaching 2,000 points for a 58-51 lead. ASVEL punched back with a 0-8 run to reclaim the lead 58-59. Brooks answered with a three-pointer and Milan was up 63-61 after 30 minutes.
Brooks scored 4 more points as Milan opened the gap to 69-61 while ASVEL needed almost 3 minutes to score. Mirotic added a triple and Milan increased the advantage to double figures, 74-64, with under 7 minutes to play. After the cushion swelled to 11 points, ASVEL was not ready to hand over the game, especially Maledon, who scored 9 points to make it 85-82 with 89 seconds left. But Mannion drained a high-arching fadeaway baseline jumper as the dagger answer with 37 seconds to go.