The 30-year-old hit a couple of clutch threes to all but wrap up the win
Zach LeDay bounced back by stepping up late against ASVEL
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Regular Season
Round 19 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Ever since Zach LeDay inspired EA7 Emporio Armani Milan to a stunning win at FC Barcelona in Round 15, his downturn in performances coincided with the Italian team losing three straight in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. But in Round 19, LeDay enjoyed a key role – particularly late – as Milan got back on track with a 66-75 victory at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.
With Theo Maledon having reduced Milan’s lead to four points, 60-64, with 2:10 minutes to go, it seemed as though the game could go either way. Yet, LeDay did not leave any doubt by knocking down back-to-back three-pointers in quick succession to swell the lead to 60-70 – the first time it had gone to double digits all night – and effectively put the win on ice.
Now in his sixth season in the EuroLeague, LeDay has earned a reputation for his incredible consistency. That was put to the test in the last few games, with LeDay netting 6, 14 and 3 points in his last three games, respectively, in defeats to Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (103-74), FC Bayern Munich (78-79) and Olympiacos Piraeus (83-84). Those 14 points would typically be a decent number, but they were the joint second fewest he had netted since Round 7.
What’s more, in Milan’s loss against Olympiacos, LeDay was 1 for 5 from the field and didn’t attempt a single free throw. As such, his final numbers against ASVEL – 17 points on 4-of-6 two-pointers, 2-of-5 three-pointers and 3-of-4 free throws – were a marked improvement.
“I made a big mistake before the last game; I tried to let the game come to me, I didn’t just kill what was in front of me,” LeDay told EuroLeague TV after the game. “So I wanted to show that I learned a lesson.”
Tiredness and knocks start to take their toll on players around this time of year, but LeDay is clear minded in what his approach needs to be, particularly at LDLC Arena on Thursday night.
“There’s a point in time where people talk about hitting the wall, but sh*t, you’ve just got to run through that mother****er,” he said. “Just do what you got to do, you know what I mean? I wanted to be there for my team and lock in and really focus on the little things today.”
This victory moved Milan up to ninth place in the standings, good for a spot in the play-in. LeDay and co. will be hoping that they can now string together some victories – as they did between Rounds 10 and 15 – and force their way into one of the six elusive playoff places.