ASVEL Lyon Villeurbanne beat Union Olimpija Ljubljana 62-65 in the final game of Group B play at the ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT in L’Hospitalet, but it was Olimpija which finished second and advanced to the semifinals. Olimpija, which will take on Real Madrid in the first semifinal, got 18 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists from Blaz Mesicek and 10 points from Nejc Martincic. Olimpija, ASVEL and Joventut Badalona all finished the group with 1-2 records, with Joventut finishing third and ASVEL fourth. ASVEL Lyon would have taken second place - and secured a spot in the semis – with a 7-point victory over Olimpija. The French side led by 18 points in the third quarter, but did not get the job done despite 26 points and 8 rebounds from Amine Noua. Lucas Herrgott added 11 points and 4 assists.

ASVEL took the lead 0-5 and Herrgott made it 4-7 at the 6:42 minute mark. Aljaz Stopar hit a three-pointer and a dunk and Mesicek scored as Olimpija pulled ahead 11-8 with ASVEL scoring just 1 free throw over more than four minutes of play. Olimpija pushed the margin to 15-10 before the French side cut the gap to 15-14 after 10 minutes. Noua and Romain Poinas opened the second quarter for a 15-18 lead before a free throw by Zan Sisko knotted the game at 18-18. Digue Diawara threw down dunks at the beginning and end of a 0-10 ASVEL run, which also saw 4 points from Noua for an 18-28 lead. Mesicek stopped the run and the margin was 22-30 at intermission.

Noua hit a basket and a three-pointer and Thomas Vincent nailed a three to complete an 0-10 run to start the second half for a 22-40 lead. Luka Kraljevic finally got Olimpija on the scoreboard at the 5:52 minute mark and the Slovenian side continued to push forward. Martincic drained a triple and Jan Strmcnik converted a layup at the third-quarter buzzer to get the deficit down to 37-46. After Herrgott got the lead back to double digits, Mesicek scored in a 6-0 run and Vlatko Cancar’s three-ball trimmed the deficit to 46-50. Vincent’s three-pointer got the margin back out to 49-57 with three minutes left. And his next three had ASVEL up 54-60 with 1:39 minutes to play. Noua’s basket made it 56-62 with 61 seconds remaining before a big Martincic three-pointer for Olimpija. Noua then split free throws and Martincic knocked down both of his attempts from the free throw line to make it 61-63 with 8 seconds left. Needing a 7-point win, ASVEL got a basket from Kevin Hangoue, but Kraljevic made one free throw with 3 seconds left for the final score.