In a winner-takes-all showdown for the third place in Group C, Valencia Basket Club led from start to finish, hitting 14 three-pointers and defeating Asvel Villeurbanne Lyon 97-70 on Tuesday. Valencia advanced to the Last 32 with 6-4 record, while Asvel is eliminated with 4-6, and finished its Eurocup campaign in the fifth place. The hosts opened the game with a 15-3 run, led 31-8 before the end of the first quarter, and never looked back. The hosts had six scorers in double figures. Justin Doellman led the way with 16 points, Bojan Dubljevic and Rafa Martinez each scored 14. Sam Van Rossom had 11 points plus 7 assists, and Pau Ribas and Serhiy Lishchuk also scored 11 apiece. Amara Sy finished with 12 for Asvel, Edwin Jackson added 11, and Marko Keselj scored 10 in defeat.
Valencia stormed out of the gate. Doellman and Lishchuk started the charge inside, and Van Rossom nailed a triple for 15-3. Keselj scored the first 5 points for the visitors, but back-to-back-to-back triples from Dubljevic, Lubos Barton and Van Rossom helped extend it to 31-8. Early in the second quarter, Georgi Joseph scored twice from close range for Asvel, and Travis Leslie scored a pair of baskets for 38-20. But Van Rossom, Oliver Lafayette and Lishchuk all hit triples, helping extend it to 49-25. The hosts held 51-29 at halftime, and Dubljevic triple in the third made it 58-31. With game already out of reach, Sy had a triple and a layup for the visitors, but Martinez also nailed a triple, then had couple more baskets as Valencia went to 75-44. Pau Ribas buried a three-pointer and Doellman scored 8 point at the start of the fourth for the largest margin of the night, 88-53, before Jackson, Leslie and Alexandre Chassang cut the deficit in the final minutes.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Eurocupbasketball.com