2019-20Regular SeasonRound 15
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 93
ALBA Berlin 81
December 20, 2019 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 ASTROBALLE

ASVEL stops ALBA at home

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne recorded its sixth home win by downing ALBA Berlin 93-81 at the Astroballe on Friday. ASVEL improved to 7-8 while ALBA dropped to 4-11 and is on a four-game losing streak. David Lighty led the winners with 14 points. Charles Kahudi and Adreian Payne each had 12 while Livio Jean-Charles had 10 for ASVEL. Martin Hermannsson led ALBA with 17 points. Luke Sikma added 15, Landry Nnoko 13 and Rokas Giedraitis 12. Kresimir Nikic and Marcus Eriksson shined early to give ALBA an 11-14 lead but Kahudi and Jordan Taylor helped ASVEL tie the game, 18-18, after 10 minutes. Hermannsson and Sikma rescued ALBA, allowing the guests to get a 36-38 edge at halftime. But Payne, Antoine Diot and Amine Noua fueled a 26-3 run that broke the game open, 71-52, early in the fourth quarter. Nothing changed after that moment, with ASVEL keeping full control for good.

Payne scored down low to get ASVEL going and Diot struck from downtown for a 5-1 lead. Payne hit a jump hook but Nikic and Eriksson fueled an 0-8 ALBA run which Sikma capped a layup. Edwin Jackson took over with a driving layup and Taylor added a catch-and-shoot jumper to make ASVEL regain the lead. Giedraitis struck from downtown and fed Makai Mason for a fast break layup, but Kahudi rescued ASVEL with a three-point play and a layup, then Taylor scored in penetration to tie the game, 18-18, after 10 minutes. Diot stepped up with a driving layup early in the second quarter and Payne added a turnaround jumper for a 22-20 ASVEL lead. Eriksson struck from beyond the arc and Nnoko added an alley-oop layup, igniting an 0-11 run highlighted by Hermannsson's driving layup. Ismael Bako ignited the home crowd with a huge dunk, Lighty added a put-back basket and Payne added a fast break slam that made the guests call timeout at 32-36. Livio tied the game with a power layup but Hermannsson restored a 36-38 ALBA edge at halftime. Jean-Charles and Hermannsson traded baskets soon after the break, then Rihards Lomasz struck from downtown for a 41-40 ASVEL lead. Sikma answered from beyond the arc and Eriksson put ALBA back ahead, 43-45. Lighty downed a jumper but Hermannsson and Nnoko scored around the basket to make it a four-point game, 45-49. Taylor joined the three-point shootout and a dunk by Payne provided another lead change, 51-49. Diot hit a triple and Noua dunked, before Noua buried another three-point shot and a layup that made it a double-digit game, 63-52. Payne, Diot - with a big block - and Jackson joined forces to boost the host's margin to 67-52 after 30 minutes. Taylor scored again early in the fourth and Kahudi hit a jumper to cap a mamooth 26-3 run, giving ASVEL a 71-52 lead. ALBA kept trying in the final 7 minutes and managed to get within single digits, 76-68, but even then ASVEL stayed in charge until the final buzzer.

Pivotal performer

Adreian Payne had not played since Round 1 against Olympiacos Piraeus and his energy, determination and aggresiveness gave ASVEL a much-needed extra boost at both ends. He finished the game with 12 points on 6-of-6 two-point shots, adding 3 rebounds, an assist and 2 blocks for a PIR of 16 in 17 minutes.

Game-changing moment

ALBA managed to tie the game, 51-51, midway through the third quarter. But then a three-pointer by Antoine Diot and a dunk by Amine Noua ignited a 20-3 run in which Payne and Edwin Jackson also contributed to make ASVEL break the game open, 71-52. ALBA never recovered.

Stellar stat

ASVEL shot the ball with much better percentages and that allowed the French powerhouse to control the game. ASVEL hit 29-of-44 shots inside the arc (65.9%) and 8-of-18 from downtown (44.4%). ALBA was limited to 15.8% from beyond the three-point line (3-of-19) and was worse than ASVEL from two-point range (55.3%, 26-of-47).

Did you notice?

It was the first showdown between the teams in any European competition since January 7, 2003. ALBA's last win at the Astroballe came on February 18, 1999 - 82-88 behind 28 points from Wendell Alexis.

Next game:

Both teams return to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague action on Thursday, December 26. ALBA hosts KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in the German capital at 20:00 CET. ASVEL welcomes Khimki Moscow Region at 20:45 CET.

Charles Kahudi - LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne - EB19
Friday, December 20, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; PUKL,SASA; AMBROSOV, MYKOLA
Attendance: 5231
By Quarter1234
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne18183126
ALBA Berlin18201429
End of Quarter1234
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne18366793
ALBA Berlin18385281
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 JACKSON, EDWIN 18:46 6 2/4 0/3 2/2   2 2 1 1       3 1 3
2 TAYLOR, JORDAN 25:07 9 3/7 1/2     3 3 9   2   1 4   9
5 KAHUDI, CHARLES 21:37 12 3/5 1/2 3/3 1 4 5 1 1     1 2 4 17
6 MALEDON, THEO 11:26 5 1/1 1/1     2 2 2   3     1 2 7
9 LOMAZS, RIHARDS 7:54 5 1/2 1/1 0/1   1 1 1         3 2 4
11 GALLIOU, CHARLES DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 NOUA, AMINE 18:31 7 2/2 1/3   1   1   1       3   4
17 JEAN-CHARLES, LIVIO 21:20 10 5/7 0/1   3 3 6     1     1   11
19 DIOT, ANTOINE 15:20 9 1/1 2/2 1/2       5   3 1   1 2 12
21 BAKO, ISMAEL 17:34 4 1/4   2/2   1 1 1 1   2   2 2 6
23 LIGHTY, DAVID 25:26 14 4/5 1/2 3/4 1 2 3 2   1     2 3 16
33 PAYNE, ADREIAN 16:59 12 6/6 0/1     3 3 1     2   3 2 16
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 93 29/44 8/18 11/14 7 22 29 23 4 10 5 2 25 18 107
        65.9% 44.4% 78.6%
Head coach: MITROVIC, ZVEZDAN
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
ALBA Berlin
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 MASON, MAKAI 13:05 2 1/4           1   1     2   -3
2 RADOSAVLJEVIC, BOGDAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 GIFFEY, NIELS 19:31 6 3/7 0/3     1 1           3 1 -2
8 ERIKSSON, MARCUS 27:58 9 2/4 1/3 2/2 1 2 3           1 3 10
9 MATTISSECK, JONAS 14:28 2 0/3 0/1 2/2   1 1 1       2 2 1 -3
10 SCHNEIDER, TIM 4:46     0/3                   2   -5
15 HERMANNSSON, MARTIN 28:18 17 6/8 0/2 5/6 1 1 2 5   2   2 2 4 17
16 NIKIC, KRESIMIR 12:22 5 2/4   1/4 2 1 3   1     1   2 5
25 OGBE, KENNETH 6:54           1 1   1 1         1
31 GIEDRAITIS, ROKAS 26:15 12 2/3 1/3 5/6   3 3 5 2 1     4 5 18
35 NNOKO, LANDRY 21:54 13 6/9   1/1 2 4 6 1   1 1   3 3 17
43 SIKMA, LUKE 24:29 15 4/5 1/4 4/4 4   4 4   1 1     5 24
Team           4 4 8     1         7
Totals 200:00 81 26/47 3/19 20/25 14 18 32 17 4 8 2 5 19 24 86
        55.3% 15.8% 80%
Head coach: GARCIA RENESES, AITO

Head Coaches

MITROVIC, ZVEZDAN
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne

"Good defense was the key for tonight's game, and only three turnovers in the second half. Payne had not played for a long time and had a lot of emotions. It was a good game for him but first of all, this is a team game. Defensively, it is not easy to play against ALBA, a team that scored 100 points several times and lost four games in overtime against Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce, Efes...they fought against all the EuroLeague teams. They are a very talented team, a good shooting team and I think our defense helped us. OK, they scored 29 points in the fourth quarter but we made the difference in the third quarter. We played a good game and this is a first-year experience for us. We have to try to play at a good level, make people who watch us enjoy, to see really great teams and the best players in Europe. This is our goal."

"At halftime, I was asked about our problems on offense but in the third quarter, we really started to make some threes and start to play much better offense. I think we made the break in the third quarter and it was the end of the game. We controlled the game in the fourth, 10-12 points, and I think we absolutely deserve this win. Adreian Payne helped us, like all the guys in the team. He helped us, especially without Jekiri, in the offensive part of the game. We were waiting for Adreian. He is very important, like all the players. After this game, we will play against Khimki, maybe the most talented offensive team in the EuroLeague, but we have to go game by game. Merry Christmas!"

GARCIA RENESES, AITO
ALBA Berlin
"First of all, congratulations to ASVEL. They played a lot of times very well one-on-one, and sometimes we defended it bad. Also, we were not able to score with good percentages on long-distance shots, when we usually do. There is an explanation for us: it is more difficult to play well when you have key players injured. We accept this because it is very difficult to play in the BBL, in the German Cup and in the EuroLeague, travelling, with just a few players. We accept this and use this to learn situations we can improve."

Players

KAHUDI, CHARLES
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
"We were expecting that kind of reaction [in the third quarter]. We knew that at home, when we are playing defense, we can survive in every game, so we played good defense and got a couple of stops. Every win is important because in the EuroLeague every team is great, with great players. We knew they have a lot of talent and play really fast offensively, and we needed to stop them defensively, and that is what we did. I think [Adreian Payne] was hungry because he didn't play for two months. He is getting better and better."
PAYNE, ADREIAN
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
"I am just glad that I am able to be back on the court, playing basketball. It felt good to play with my team and get a win. We just played hard, stuck with our game plan. Coach had some plays that he drew up in the timeout. We just tried to execute, not turn the ball over and take care of the ball."
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