2018-19Top 16Round 3
Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt 58
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 70
January 16, 2019 CET: 19:30
Local time: 19:30 FRAPORT ARENA

ASVEL rides defense to win in Frankfurt

LDLC Asvel Villeurbanne maintained its perfect record in Group F with a 58-70 road victory at winless Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt. Defense did the job for the French side, which restricted Skyliners to no more than 17 points in each quarter and forced a total of 17 turnovers. ASVEL's top scorer was Theo Maledon with 15 points, all in the first half, while Mantas Kalnietis combined 13 points with 4 assists. AJ Slaughter and David Lighty both scored 10. Skyliners was paced by 17 points from Jonas Wohlfarth-Botterman and Jason Clark added 13.

Miro Bilan opened the scoring with a pair of close-range finishes, but Wohlfarth-Botterman responded with three straight baskets for the hosts. Clark and Lighty both scored twice to keep it close and it was 15-18 at the end of the first. Elijah Clarance struck his second three-pointer and split free throws to send Skyliners ahead, 21-20. Teen star Maledon restored ASVEL's lead with two scores from beyond the arc and a big slam by Alpha Kaba made it 29-33 at the half. A pair of baskets from Slaughter kept ASVEL ahead as the low-scoring nature of the game continued in the third quarter. Slaughter netted a triple before Charles Kahudi scored a layup for a 41-49 lead at the end of the third. A three-point play by Wohlfarth-Botterman and a triple from Garai Zeeb gave Skyliners hope early in the fourth, but ASVEL's defense then took over and 5 consecutive points from Kalnietis stretched the lead to 47-60. A 6-0 run kept the home team hoping, but Kalnietis scored again to keep ASVEL safe.

Long-range shooting woes

In a game dominated by defenses, there was a real paucity of points from long-range. The first quarter saw just 1 three-pointer from either team, scored by Skyliners' Elijah Clarance. Nobody else netted from beyond the arc until nearly 17 minutes had elapsed and that trend continued throughout as the two teams finished with a combined tally of 10 of 40 three-pointers.

Maledon catches the eye

Theo Maledon was the undoubted star of the show in the opening stanza. The 17-year-old ASVEL guard scored 15 of his team's first 29 points, converting his first 4 field goals and 5 free throws. He didn't score again in the second half as Mantas Kalnietis – nearly twice his age – took over, but he had already done enough to showcase his huge potential.

Defense takes ASVEL home

The outcome was settled midway through the final quarter. Skyliners had given itself fresh hope by scoring 6 points in a minute, reducing the deficit to 47-53, but ASVEL then stiffened its defense and kept the home side scoreless for more than three minutes, allowing the visitors to move into a decisive double-digit lead.

Next round

The two teams will meet again, this time in France, in Top 16 Round 4 next Tuesday evening.

Theo Maledon - LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (photo Skyliners) - EC18
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: GKONTAS, SPIROS; KOWALSKI, MARCIN; ROSSI, MICHELE
Attendance: 607
By Quarter1234
Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt15141217
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne18151621
End of Quarter1234
Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt15294158
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne18334970
Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 MURPHY, ERIK 12:44   0/2 0/2   1 1 2 1   1 1 1 2   -4
1 CLARANCE, ELIJAH 18:44 7 0/3 2/3 1/2   3 3   1 4     1 2 3
3 ZEEB, GARAI 28:59 5 1/1 1/3   1 2 3 1 2 4     1 1 5
5 CLARK, JASON 29:01 13 5/11 1/3 0/1   3 3 3   1   2 4 2 5
7 HUFF, SHAWN 20:49 2 1/1 0/2     1 1           3 1 -1
9 FREUDENBERG, RICHARD 26:31 2 1/3 0/2   1 2 3   1 1     1 1 1
15 TRTOVAC, ARMIN 4:06   0/1     1 2 3     1     2 1  
18 WOHLFARTH-BOTTERMANN, JONAS 22:02 17 8/12   1/1 2 2 4 1 1 2 1   2 7 23
23 ROBERTSON, QUANTEZ 28:16 6 1/4 1/3 1/2   3 3 6 1 2     3 1 6
33 VOELLER, MARCO 8:48 6 3/3     2 2 4     1     1   8
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 58 20/41 5/18 3/6 9 22 31 12 6 17 2 3 20 16 48
        48.8% 27.8% 50%
Head coach: HERBERT, GORDON
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
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
6 MALEDON, THEO 24:24 15 2/4 2/5 5/5 1 1 2 2   3     2 2 11
7 KABA, ALPHA 22:02 6 2/6   2/2 4 5 9   1 2 3 1 2 2 12
8 SLAUGHTER, AJ 19:03 10 2/4 2/5     3 3   2 2     1 1 8
9 KALNIETIS, MANTAS 24:22 13 4/6 1/4 2/2   2 2 4   1       2 15
11 GALLIOU, CHARLES 4:17                              
14 SOW, KHADIM 17:07       0/2   1 1 1         1 2 1
15 BILAN, MIRO 13:53 8 4/7     3 2 5   1 1   1 4 2 7
20 NELSON, DEMARCUS 20:19 2 1/2 0/1   1 4 5 1 3 1     3   5
23 LIGHTY, DAVID 30:39 10 5/6 0/2   2 2 4 3 1       3 3 15
24 BRIKI, SOFIANE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
55 KAHUDI, CHARLES 23:54 6 2/4 0/5 2/2   2 2     2       4 3
Team             3 3     3          
Totals 200:00 70 22/39 5/22 11/13 11 25 36 11 8 15 3 2 16 18 77
        56.4% 22.7% 84.6%
Head coach: MITROVIC, ZVEZDAN

Head Coaches

HERBERT, GORDON
Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt
"Congratulations to ASVEL. They are a very good basketball team, especially on the defensive end. I liked our effort, but we lost our focus a bit in the first half. In the second half we were focused a bit better but allowed too many easy transition layups. 17 turnovers are a problem, especially when you get 11 of them from your bench guys. But again, I liked our effort and we need to keep it going.”
MITROVIC, ZVEZDAN
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne

"Congratulations to both teams. It was not a great game, but it was tough and both teams played with great effort on the defensive end. In a game like this we got the better end. We wanted to control the game and limit the transition offense of Frankfurt. We wanted to control the rebounds and box out well. We did this well in the second half and were able to get our transition offense going and gained the advantage.“

“Our defensive effort in the second part of the game gave us easy points in transition. We closed the game on defense, even though we made some mistakes on offense. We didn’t show our best game but we had good energy, especially on defense.”

Players

CLARK, JASON
Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt
“We came out playing very well against a talented offensive team, but we got tired and they ran away with it. We fought well.”
MALEDON, THEO
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
"Defensively we were in good order, made them have turnovers and that made the difference in the end. My goal is not to score, but to come here and do what Coach wants. I missed some shots. but that's alright."