Roberson has 42, ASVEL downs Gran Canaria in 3OT

In an instant classic and epic thriller that went to triple overtime, ASVEL Villeurbanne conquered first place in 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season Group D by downing Herbalife Gran Canaria 128-129 on the road on Wednesday. ASVEL finished first in Group D with a 7-3 record and Gran Canaria came in fourth at 5-5 after losing its first game at home. John Roberson led the winners with 42 points and set a EuroCup record for most three-point shots made in a single game with 11. Roberson was held scoreless in the first half. David Lighty added 21 points, Darryl Watkins had 18, Charles Kahudi tallied 16 points, 12 rebounds and 5 steals and Amine Noua scored 10 points for ASVEL. Pablo Aguilar led Gran Canaria with 25 points, D.J. Seeley added 20, Marcus Eriksson 18, Gal Mekel 17, Ondrej Balvin posted a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds, Oriol Pauli contributed 12 points and Anzejs Pasecniks scored 10 for the hosts. Gran Canaria led 75-61 margin after three quarters, but Roberson and Kahudi rallied ASVEL. Free throws by Eulis Baez sent the game to overtime at 87-87. Seeley forced a second extra period with a three-pointer, 104-104, and Roberson hit a couple more late in the second overtime to go to a third one at 115-115. It all came down to the wire, as Seeley and Aguilar missed respective shots in the final seconds. ASVEL hit 20 three-point shots, tying the competition record held by UNICS Kazan since 2009.

Watkins got ASVEL going with a turnaround jumper and Lighty scored in transition for a 0-4 lead. Mekel followed free throws with a floater, but Watkins and Lighty fueled a 0-6 run that gave ASVEL a 4-10 lead. Pauli and Alpha Kaba traded layups, but Gran Canaria improved its defense and found a go-to guy in Aguilar, who had 9 points in an 11-0 run that gave the hosts a 17-12 edge. A buzzer-beating floater by DeMarcus Nelson kept ASVEL within 17-14 after 10 minutes. Nicolas Lang buried back-to-back triples early in the second quarter, but Seeley scored in penetration, Pasecniks followed a jumper with a dunk and Aguilar added an alley-oop slam that caused ASVEL to call timeout at 25-20. Pasecniks dunked again, Aguilar followed a backdoor layup with a fast break layup and Eriksson downed a triple that made it a double-digit game, 36-25. Lighty hit a triple and Noua followed a dunk with a layup, but Mekel, Eriksson and a wild dunk-and-foul by Balvin gave Gran Canaria a 45-33 margin at halftime.

Roberson hit a pair of three-pointers, which prompted the hosts to call timeout. He then added a four-point play to bring ASVEL within 45-43. Xavi Rabaseda answered from downtown and dunked off a steal, but Lighty hit a jumper and Roberson added two more triples to make is 52-51. Seeley followed a layup-plus-foul with a three-pointer and an unstoppable Balvin gave Gran Canaria fresh air at 63-56. Eriksson hit free throws and Aguilar hit a triple and added a put-back layup for a 13-point lead. DeMarcus Nelson shined with a three-point play, but free throws by Pauli and Nelson gave the hosts a 75-61 lead after 30 minutes. Noua and Kahudi tried to change things for ASVEL early in the fourth quarter, but Pauli and Pasecniks kept Gran Canaria in charge at 80-67 with over six minutes left. Three-pointers by Roberson, Kahudi and Noua caused Gran Canaria to stop the game at 83-78. Lighty hit a jumper and another triple by Kahudi tied it at 83-83 with over three minutes remaining. Mekel and Watkins traded free throws and ASVEL got the ball back with 20 seconds left. Roberson drew a foul with 5.2 seconds left and made both attempts. ASVEL opted to foul on Baez, who had been scoreless until that point. He made both attempts to tie it with 3 seconds left in regulation and Roberson missed from downtown at the buzzer.

A jumper by Eriksson and free throws by Balvin gave Gran Canaria a 91-89 edge early in overtime. Watkins quickly answered with a layup and back-to-back three-pointers by Roberson and Kahudi made the hosts call timeout at 91-97. Lighty joined the three-point shootout and split free throws, but Baez, Pauli and Eriksson kept Gran Canaria within 98-101 with 1:16 to go. Roberson buried his eighth three-pointer, but Seeley struck twice from downtown to take the game to a second overtime, 104-104. Pauli and Balvin gave Gran Canaria a 108-104 lead, which Roberson and Watkins erased, 109-109, with 2:50 left. Baez scored down low and a jumper by Eriksson gave the hosts a 113-109 lead in the next-to-last minute. Mekel scored again, but Roberson downed his ninth and 10th three-pointer to tie the game again, 115-115. Roberson, however, missed a turnaround shot that would have given ASVEL the win at the buzzer. Roberson hit another triple early in the third overtime, but Seeley downed two from beyond the arc for a 125-122 Gran Canaria edge. A.J. Slaughter answered from downtown, Aguilar dunked and a driving layup by Roberson tied it at 127-127. Mekel split free throws with 36.7 seconds left and a layup by Kahudi gave ASVEL a 128-129 lead. Gran Canaria had time to score, but Seeley and Aguilar missed respective shots in the final seconds.