2019-20Regular SeasonRound 1
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 82
Olympiacos Piraeus 63
October 04, 2019 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 ASTROBALLE

ASVEL back to EuroLeague with a bang

LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne made a triumphant return to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with a resounding 82-63 win over the visiting Olympiacos Piraeus on Friday. ASVEL took the lead for good in the second quarter, opened the double-digit advantage in the third, and never allowed the Reds to come closer than 7 points the rest of the way. David Lighty and Jordan Taylor paced the winners with 16 points apiece. Tonye Jekiri collected 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Livio Jean-Charles had 10 points for ASVEL. Georgios Printezis scored 15 for the visitors, Kevin Punter netted 11 while Nikola Milutinov finished with 10 points plus 10 rebounds.

Olympiacos took it inside early with 8 points from Printezis before some help from Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Punter opened a 10-17 lead. But ASVEL had an answer with 4 consecutive basket-plus-foul opportunities, three of which Jekiri, Charles Kahudi and Taylor turned into three-point plays for a 21-21 tie. Vassilis Spanoulis ended the first quarter with a buzzer-beater, but that was the only triple for the Reds in the first half. On the other end, Taylor and Adreian Payne hit from long range to jump ASVEL ahead by 31-25. Payne scored twice more inside, before Lighty made a tip-in as time expired to make it 40-33 at halftime. Baskets were few and far between early in the third quarter, but 5 points from Antoine Diot opened a 47-35 lead for ASVEL. Olympiacos briefly tried a full-court press and Printezis nailed a three-pointer, but Lighty answered right back with a three of his own to make it 54-42. Spanoulis gave Olympiacos some spark by assisting Milutinov's alley-oop dunk late in the third, then hitting a triple early in the fourth. But Lighty and Taylor struck from downtown for ASVEL to keep the margin in double digits, 62-52. Taylor scored 5 more points, starting a final run that pushed the margin to 19 as the fans at Astroballe celebrated a memorable victory.

Long time coming

This was ASVEL's first EuroLeague game since January 14, 2010, when it played, but lost, against Cibona Zagreb. ASVEL finally tasted a EuroLeague victory after nearly nine years and 10 months, since it beat Fenerbahce Ulker in Istanbul on December 9, 2009.

Key stats

Not even 15 offensive rebounds could help Olympiacos, which was held to 46.2% on two-pointers and just 4-for-17 (23.5%) from long range.

ASVEL values experience

ASVEL had only four players who previously appeared in a EuroLeague game, and those four players – Edwin Jackson, Antoine Diot, David Lighty and Adreian Payne – each played at least 18 minutes, combining for 36 points and 9 assists.

Spanoulis reaches 4,000 points

It was not the way he would have liked it to happen, but by scoring 9 points tonight Vassilis Spanoulis reached exactly 4,000 points for his EuroLeague career. He is only the second man to do it, behind all-time scoring leader Juan Carlos Navarro, who has 4,152 for his career.

Next up

ASVEL will be at home in Round 2, too, welcoming the other Greek rival Panathinaikos OPAP Athens next Thursday. A day later Olympiacos will play a home opener against Valencia Basket.

David Lighty - LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne - EB19
Friday, October 4, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: HIERREZUELO, DANIEL; HORDOV, TOMISLAV ; NIKOLIC, UROS
Attendance: 5336
By Quarter1234
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne21191626
Olympiacos Piraeus2491416
End of Quarter1234
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne21405682
Olympiacos Piraeus24334763
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 27:33 5 2/5 0/1 1/1       2   1     2 2 2
2 TAYLOR, JORDAN 21:19 16 2/6 3/5 3/3   1 1 4     1 1 2 3 16
3 JEKIRI, TONYE 25:04 13 5/8   3/5 1 9 10 2 1 1     2 7 25
5 KAHUDI, CHARLES 20:31 7 3/6 0/2 1/1 1 2 3 1 1 1 1   3 2 6
6 MALEDON, THEO 9:17   0/1 0/1     1 1 1   2     4   -6
11 GALLIOU, CHARLES DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 NOUA, AMINE 6:40   0/1       1 1     1 1        
17 JEAN-CHARLES, LIVIO 22:16 10 5/6     2 3 5     2     3 1 10
19 DIOT, ANTOINE 22:22 8 1/1 1/2 3/3   1 1 5 1       1 2 15
21 BAKO, ISMAEL 0:29                     1       1
23 LIGHTY, DAVID 26:19 16 5/8 2/4   1 1 2 2         2   13
33 PAYNE, ADREIAN 18:10 7 2/2 1/3     3 3     1 1   3 1 6
Team           4 2 6               6
Totals 200:00 82 25/44 7/18 11/13 9 24 33 17 3 9 5 1 22 18 94
        56.8% 38.9% 84.6%
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
Olympiacos Piraeus
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 PUNTER, KEVIN 30:55 11 5/7 0/2 1/2 1 1 2 1         1 3 11
2 BALDWIN IV, WADE 14:46 2 1/2 0/1     1 1 3   3     5   -4
3 PAUL, BRANDON 14:41 2 0/2 0/1 2/2   5 5   1 2   1 2 2 2
7 SPANOULIS, VASSILIS 25:16 9 0/2 3/6         2 2     1 1 2 8
10 CHERRY, WILL 13:30 2 1/4 0/1     2 2 2 1       1   2
11 MILUTINOV, NIKOLA 30:41 10 3/7   4/10 7 3 10 2   1 1   1 7 18
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 1:55               1             1
15 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 28:11 15 3/5 1/1 6/7 1 3 4 1   1     1 5 20
16 PAPANIKOLAOU, KOSTAS 12:30 4 2/3 0/2     1 1 1 1 1   1 1 1 2
19 KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS 12:38 6 2/4 0/2 2/2 2 3 5     1   1   1 6
21 RUBIT, AUGUSTINE 14:12 2 1/3 0/1     2 2     1   1 4 1 -4
22 HAPP, ETHAN 0:45                         1   -1
Team           4 1 5     3         2
Totals 200:00 63 18/39 4/17 15/23 15 22 37 13 5 13 1 5 18 22 63
        46.2% 23.5% 65.2%
Head coach: BLATT, DAVID

Head Coaches

MITROVIC, ZVEZDAN
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
"I did not expect such start of the EuroLeague. I am really happy. Guys, starting with the second quarter until the end of the game really played a great game with a great effort with the support of our fans. For me, it is a big surprise. I knew 100 percent that the players would fight to start the game. But to score in tough moments, to share the ball like we shared tonight, and to play defense first of all, it was really a great performance and I really want to congratulate my players. It is important for us and opened the EuroLeague season in a really great way, but this is a system of competition you don't have a second to celebrate. Maybe just congratulate the guys in the locker room."
BLATT, DAVID
Olympiacos Piraeus
"First of all, congratulations to ASVEL. They played a better game and deservedly won. We didn't do much well, and trying to sugar-coat it would be incorrect. So credit to our opponent and obviously we have a lot of work to do. I thought before the game they are a good team, and obviously having continuity that they have from last year, in addition to some really good players they brought in, and the fact that they've gone through I believe a pretty normal preparation period, they were just further along than we were. I thought in reality we game-planned pretty well, but we got away from the things we were successful with in the first quarter, and they took advantage of it. You got to make some shots. If you don't make any shots, the dynamic of the game quickly changes. If you are 23% from three and 60% from a foul line, the chances are you are going to lose, in an away game in particular."

Players

LIGHTY, DAVID
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
"It's been some years since the EuroLeague has been in France, and to have this atmosphere here in Astoballe was a perfect beginning. We believed in ourselves, we believed in each player no matter who is in the game he can go out and execute, get the job done. Anything can always happen, but it is only one game. It's a long, long season, and teams will only get better and better. We are going to keep working and come back the next match and to get ready for Panathinaikos."
TAYLOR, JORDAN
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
"We did a lot of little things well. Obviously, at home we want to come out and do well for our fans; they were amazing. We've still got a lot of things to get better at. This is my first EuroLeague game, I was excited to go play. This was a great team effort. I always try to have confidence but to be honest, it was first time I was a little nervous going into a game in a long time. Like I said, first EuroLeague game. Some games you are going to make shots, some games you are not, but do what the coaches ask, defend, move the ball, play as a team. I think we have a lot of talent and we've just got to play together. It is going to be a long road, but it is a good start."