ASVEL defeats Tofas to finish group play

U18 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne closed group play at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Valencia by knocking off U18 Tofas Bursa 62-70. Matthew Strazel scored 26 of his 27 points in the final three quarters and also had 4 rebounds and 5 assists for ASVEL, which finished Group B play with a 2-1 record in third place and will face U18 Olympiacos Piraeus in the fifth-place game on Sunday. Daryl Doualla had 14 points and Killian Malwaya added 11 points. Tofas lost its third straight game in its first ANGT appearance despite Ata Atsuren scoring 13 points, Ali Taskin picking up 10 points and 11 rebounds and Egemen Usta and Batin Tuna both chipping in 10 points. Tofas will take on U18 Cibona Zagreb in the seventh-place game looking for its first win in the history of the competition.

Tuna scored six points as Tofas took an 8-4 lead. Cedrick Sam Mbaka had two scores at the other end and it was 13-11 after Hamza Celik and Doualla swapped three-pointers. Tofas was ahead 17-13 after 10 minutes. Ata Atsuren opened the second quarter with a three-ball to make it 20-13, Strazel answered with two triples among his 8 straight points to start a 4-18 run for a 24-31 ASVEL advantage. Malwaya picked up 4 points for the French side but the game was even 35-35 at the break. Tofas was still close, down 39-42, until Strazel scored the first 6 points in a 2-14 spurt to move ASVEL ahead 41-56, and the score was 46-56 after 30 minutes. Seven straight points from Doualla increased the advantage to 50-65 when Usta and Atsuren both hit long balls to close the gap to 58-65. But Tofas could not get closer the rest of the way.