2017-18Top 16Round 5
ASVEL Villeurbanne 77
UNICS Kazan 83
January 31, 2018 CET: 20:30
Local time: 20:30 ASTROBALLE

UNICS beats ASVEL in OT to stay alive

In a thriller that went down to the wire, UNICS Kazan needed overtime to survive a do-or-die battle in Top 16 Group H by edging ASVEL Villeurbanne 77-83 at the Astroballe on Wednesday. UNICS would have been eliminated with a loss, but after this win, it will qualify if it beats Limoges CSP at home next week. ASVEL and UNICS have a 3-2 record in Group H, just like Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia. Jamar Smith led the winners with 26 points. Quino Colom added 20 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists while Melvin Ejim had 16 points for UNICS. John Roberson paced ASVEL with 17 points, Charles Kahudi had 11 and Amine Noua and David Lighty each scored 10 for the hosts. ASVEL led 65-62 with less than two minutes left in regulation. Smith stepped up with 7 points in crunch time to send the game to overtime, 69-69. Colom and Ejim took over in overtime to lead UNICS to the win it needed to remain alive.

Colom got UNICS going with consecutive driving layups and Ejim dunked for a 4-6 lead. Noua struck from downtown and Daryl Watkins soon added a layup-plus-foul that gave ASVEL the lead, 11-9. Roberson hit free throws and Nicolas Lang added a floater in a 9-0 run that Alpha Kaba capped with a put-back slam for a 17-9 ASVEL margin after 10 minutes. Danilo Andjusic buried a jumper early in the second quarter and Smith added a triple to make it 17-14t. Kaba dunked again, igniting a 6-0 lead that Lighty capped with a tip-in for a 9-point lead. A layup by Andjusic and an alley-oop dunk by Ndour ignited a 1-11 run in which Colom had 5 points, including a layup-plus-foul that gave UNICS a 24-25 edge. Lighty scored in penetration and A.J. Slaughter hit free throws, but Evgeny Koleshnikov and Smith kept UNICS ahead, 28-29, at halftime.

Smith nailed back-to-back jumpers after the break, but Roberson followed a three-point play with a bomb from downtown for a 34-33 ASVEL edge. Smith kept pacing UNICS with a couple of three-pointers and Stephane Lasme added free throws, but Slaughter and DeMarcus Nelson kept the hosts in charge, 43-41. Ejim followed a three-point play with a layup, but Justin Harper and an unstoppable Roberson kept ASVEL ahead. A layup by Vladislav Trushkin and free throws by Ponkrashov put UNICS in the lead, 51-52, after 30 minutes. Smith hit a jumper early in the fourth quarter, but ASVEL improved its defense. Meanwhile, Kahudi had a dunk and a layup in a 10-0 run in which Roberson and Noua each hit a triple for a 61-54 lead with less than six minutes left. Smith scored again and back-to-back jumpers by Ejim and Ponkrashov made it 61-60. Kahudi and Lighty scored around the basket, giving ASVEL a 65-62 edge in the next-to-last minute. Smith followed a triple with a layup, but a three-pointer by Kahudi and a free throw by Lighty gave ASVEL a 69-67 edge. Smith hit a jumper with 31.8 seconds left, Kahudi missed from downtown and Colom's shot hit the rim at the buzzer.

Colom scored in penetration early in overtime and Trent Lockett added a three-pointer, but Nelson and Kahudi tied the game at 74-74. Colom and Lasme each hit free throws in a 0-6 run highlighted by Ejim's tip-in, but Roberson downed one from beyond the arc to make it 77-80 with 33.5 seconds left. Ejim made foul shots to seal the outcome, 77-82, with 14.5 seconds remaining and UNICS walked out with a critical road win.

Jamar Smith - UNICS Kazan (photo Asvel - infinity Nine Media - Alexia Leduc) - EC17
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: GARCIA, JUAN CARLOS; VYKLICKY, ROBERT; RODSAND, TORKILD
Attendance: 5560
By Quarter1234Extra 1
ASVEL Villeurbanne171123188
UNICS Kazan920231714
End of Quarter1234Extra 1
ASVEL Villeurbanne1728516977
UNICS Kazan929526983
ASVEL Villeurbanne
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 MALEDON, THEO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 KAHUDI, CHARLES 33:53 11 2/6 2/4 1/2 3 4 7 2   1   1 3 4 12
6 SLAUGHTER, AJ 26:05 9 0/6 0/7 9/10   3 3 2 1     1 4 5 1
7 KABA, ALPHA 25:23 6 2/6   2/2 4 6 10 1 2   1 2 2 1 13
9 LANG, NICOLAS 6:38 2 1/1 0/1     2 2 1   1     1   2
12 NOUA, AMINE 24:50 10 2/4 2/4   1 2 3 1   1   1     8
17 BRIKI, SOFIANE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
20 NELSON, DEMARCUS 20:12 6 2/4   2/2       1   1 1 1 4 1 1
21 ROBERSON, JOHN 34:56 17 1/5 4/11 3/3   3 3 5 2 3   2 3 5 13
22 WATKINS, DARRYL 18:16 4 1/2   2/3 1 5 6 1 1 2     4 2 6
23 LIGHTY, DAVID 22:23 10 4/8 0/1 2/4 3 1 4 2   1   1 4 3 6
32 HARPER, JUSTIN 12:24 2 0/1 0/1 2/2   3 3 1         1 1 4
Team           4 4 8     2         6
Totals 225:00 77 15/43 8/29 23/28 16 33 49 17 6 12 2 9 26 22 72
        34.9% 27.6% 82.1%
Head coach: PARKER, TJ
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
UNICS Kazan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 EJIM, MELVIN 34:33 16 6/7 0/2 4/5 4 9 13 2 1   3   3 6 34
5 NDOUR, MAURICE 16:18 2 1/2       4 4     2 1   1   3
7 PONKRASHOV, ANTON 18:47 4 1/5 0/3 2/2 2   2         1 3 3 -2
10 COLOM, QUINO 30:12 20 5/7 1/5 7/9   9 9 7 2 2     2 9 35
13 LASME, STEPHANE 34:25 4 0/10   4/6 2 4 6     1 5 1 4 4 1
15 SMITH, JAMAR 37:10 26 7/9 4/10     1 1 1 1 1     1 2 21
16 TRUSHKIN, VLADISLAV 5:17 2 1/1 0/1             1          
24 LOCKETT, TRENT 30:48 3 0/4 1/4   2 2 4 1 1 2     3   -3
27 KOSHCHEEV, ANDREY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
30 SERGEEV, PAVEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
33 ANDJUSIC, DANILO 9:55 4 2/3       2 2 1 1 1     2 1 5
42 KOLESNIKOV, EVGENY 7:35 2     2/2 1 2 3           3 1 3
Team           2 4 6     1         5
Totals 225:00 83 23/48 6/25 19/24 13 37 50 12 6 11 9 2 22 26 102
        47.9% 24% 79.2%
Head coach: PRIFTIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

PARKER, TJ
ASVEL Villeurbanne
"It was a tough game. UNICS did not let anything. In the first half, we took the edge at the beginning when they were not making shots and we were making shots. We fought hard, but at the end of the day, we have to be more disciplined on offense."
PRIFTIS, DIMITRIS
UNICS Kazan
"There were a lot of missed shots. That is obvious from offensive rebounds - 16 ASVEL, 13 us. For sure, defense dominated this game for both teams. It was a matter of details in the end. Just details, that makes the game go one side or the other. All the best for ASVEL. I think that we built it progressively by pressing full court. We tried to deny [John Roberson] and that maybe at the end, it was positive for us, the advantage. We knew he would take the main shots. In crucial moments, we knew he is the main guy and has done this many times this season so yes, we focused on him. But he still scored 17 points, which is a lot. He is a player with abilities."

Players

SLAUGHTER, AJ
ASVEL Villeurbanne
" It just wasn’t our day offensively. But we never gave up, and stayed alive with our defense. It’s very frustrating to lose so close. But we need to raise our heads, because it’s not the end of the fight. We need to stay focused until next week."
NOUA, AMINE
ASVEL Villeurbanne
"We have no excuse for tonight, nobody to blame. It was the team’s defeat tonight against Kazan. We need now to bounce back. We know. We know what we have to do next week, how to win against Reggio Emilia. We have a final to win."
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