ASVEL holds off Zalgiris to stay alive

U18 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne did its part to stay alive in the hunt for a spot in the 2021 Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Championship Game by holding off U18 Zalgiris Kaunas 84-82 for its second win in its debut in the competition. ASVEL nearly wasted a 14-point lead in the final 4 minutes, but managed to move to 2-1 record in Group A, thanks to 23 points from Kenny Kasiama and Kymany Houinsou collecting 16 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists. The French side, which also got 11 points from Killian Malwaya, now hopes that U18 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade can beat U18 Real Madrid in the final game of the group to force a three-way tie. ASVEL would then advance to the title-bout, unless Zvezda wins by 29 or more points. Zalgiris will head back home with three losses - extending its losing streak in the ANGT Finals to 11 games dating back to the tournament in Berlin in 2016. Paulius Murauskas poured in 27 points and Kajus Kublickas scored 11 points in the defeat.

Liutauras Lelevicius hit a three-pointer as Zalgiris went up 1-6 in the early going. Kasiama answered with 8 points in a 14-7 surge to put the French side up 15-13. Daryl Doualla converted a basket-plus-foul before Felix De Almeida hit from long range for ASVEL, but Zalgiris had the game even 23-23 after 10 minutes. ASVEL just could not convert on offense in the second frame and Zalgiris moved ahead 23-30 until Houinsou’s put-back after nearly 5 minutes of action. ASVEL got back into the game and was within 36-38 at the break.

Dovydas Butka knocked down a triple early in the second half as Zalgiris was up 39-43 and a Titas Sargiunas three-point play helped make it 45-52. ASVEL rushed back and Kasiama and Malwaya combined for 15 points in a 19-3 run to close the third quarter, giving ASVEL a 64-55 cushion. After Noah Manet opened the final quarter with a three-pointer to extend the gap to 12 points, Murauskas keyed a 0-7 spurt for Zalgiris. ASVEL’s defense stepped up and Francois Wibaut scored 4 points in an 8-0 run for an 80-66 lead with 4 minutes remaining. Zalgiris refused to go down without a fight, scoring 11 straight points to pull within 80-77, and a Sargiunas layup trimmed the gap to 83-82 with 11 seconds to play. Romain Parmentelot could only split two free throws with 10.0 seconds to play but Radvilas Kneizys’ three-pointer to win was off the mark.