Real survives dramatic fight with ASVEL

U18 Real Madrid moved one step closer to defending its Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament title as it survived a dramatic fight with U18 U18 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in an 80-82 victory on Day 2 of the 2021 ANGT Finals. Eli Ndiaye knocked down two free throws with 3.6 seconds left to give the 2015 and 2019 continental champion Real a 2-0 record in Group A. Ndiaye finished with 30 points, 15 rebounds and 10 fouls drawn for an index rating of 45. Henri Veeshaar had 13 points while Juan Nunez picked up 10 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals but missed four free throws in the final 45 seconds. Real struggled with 23 turnovers and made just 21.7% on three-pointers but the Spanish powerhouse won the battle of the glass 56-34 including 24 offensive rebounds. ASVEL could have reached the ANGT Championship Game with a victory over Real but the debutant dropped to 1-1 and will now need to win its final game against U18 Zalgiris Kaunas and hope Real loses to U18 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade on Day 3. Romain Parmentelot led ASVEL with 19 points while Zaccharie Risacher scored 15 points, Killian Malwaya had 13 and Francois Wibaut chipped in 11 points.

After Ndiaye opened the scoring for Real from the foul line, Daryl Doualla drained a three-pointer for ASVEL’s first lead 3-2. The debutant was down 6-8 when its offense went cold and Veesaar scored four points in a 0-9 run to put Real up 6-17. Trailing 8-19, Risacher and Parmentelot both came off the ASVEL bench with five points in a 10-1 close to the first quarter to make it 18-20. Ndiaye started the second quarter with a triple but Parmentelot continued his huge game with a triple among his seven points and Hugo Desseignet also hit from long range for a 28-23 ASVEL lead. Wibaut added six points and the lead was 33-30. Real tried to take control but ASVEL had an answer every time with Risacher hitting a buzzer beating three-pointer just before halftime for a 48-47 lead.

Urban Klavzar’s triple started the second half and ASVEL failed to score for the first 3 minutes. But the French side’s defense kept it close. Veeshaar collected seven points and Real did lead 54-61. But Kymany Houinsou converted a three-point play and Parmentelot hit another triple to make it 60-63 after 30 minutes. Konstantin Kostadinov tallied four points early in the final frame as Real was up 64-69 only to see Risacher score five points and Houinsou drain a triple to put ASVEL up 78-75 entering the final minutes. Ndiaye woke from his quiet second half with a huge three-pointer to make it 78-80. Real failed to put ASVEL away as Nunez missed two free throws and then Real committed a turnover. Houinsou committed a turnover of his own and Malwaya was called for an unsportsmanlike foul, which Nunez failed to take advantage of, missing two more foul shots. And after Klavzar missed a triple on the ensuing possession, Malwaya drained two free throws with 5.6 seconds remaining to even the game. That set up Ndiaye’s game-winning free throws.