Nancy cruises past Asesoft for first Last 32 win

SLUC Nancy picked up its first ever Last 32 win, comfortably downing CSU Asesoft Ploiesti 84-67. It is the first ever win for Nancy past the regular season of the competition, and it improved it to 1-1 record in Group N, while Asesoft dropped to 0-2. The hosts pulled away with a 27-5 run that bridged second and third quarters, opening up a double-digit lead and taking control of the contest. Margin soon reached 19 points, and Nancy cruised to victory. Vaughn Duggins netted 18 points in victory, Randal Falker had 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks, while Florent Pietrus collected 10 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in victory. Gerald Lee scored 15 for Asesoft, Marius Runkauskas netted 13, Alhaji Mohammed had 12 points, Jonte Flowers added 10, while Dee Brown dished 11 assists in the losing effort.

Randal Falker and Vaughn Duggings sparked a 9-0 run in the first quarter, and Florent Pietrus made a basket-plus-free throw for 9-6. Jonte Flowers hit a pair of triples in the early going for the visitors, and back-to-back three-pointers from Dee Brown put Asesoft ahead 14-17. Nancy responded with Valentin Bigote and Benjamin Sene hits threes on back-to-back possession in the first couple of minutes of the second quarter, giving Nancy 24-19, but Jarvis Hayes and Marios Runkauskas replied with back-to-back long range shots of their own, sparking a 0-10 run as the visitors regained the lead. However, Nancy had a strong finish to the half, now with Duggins hitting twice from down, and Keydren Clark twice feeding Falker inside for 37-32 at halftime. Pietrus opened the third quarter with a basket-plus-free throw, Duggins buried another three, and Falker capped 7-0 run for 45-32 early in the third. Gerald Lee breifly ended Asesoft's drought, befoe Duggins, Clark and Falker extended it to 51-34 midway through the third quarter. Runkauskas hit a three-pointer for the visitors, but Duggins and Sergii Gladyr each knocked down a three-pointer that helped extend it to 64-45. The visitors had one last go at it, with Runkauskas and Mohammed each scoring five points to get Asesoft within 68-58, but Nancy answered with its own 10-0 run – capped by back-to-back triples from Clark and Gladyr – and the hosts reached the biggest lead of the night, 78-58, and continued cruising the rest of the way.