Barcelona remains undefeated with win over ASVEL

U18 FC Barcelona collected its second win in as many games at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Valencia with a 63-82 victory over U18 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. Pau Tendero tallied 18 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, Ibou Badji had 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks, and Gael Bonilla added 8 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists for Barcelona in the Group B game. Daryl Doualla scored 18 points to lead ASVEL, which dropped to 1-1. Cedrick Sam Mbaka and Matthew Strazel each chipped in 10 points in the loss.

Tendero and Doualla swapped three-pointers early on and the game was even 8-8. Barcelona opened the first mini-lead with a 2-8 run to go up 10-16. Elijah Hoard sparked a 7-0 answer with 4 points to put ASVEL ahead 17-16 before Michael Caicedo nailed a three-ball at the buzzer for a 17-19 Barcelona lead after 10 minutes. Barcelona grabbed control temporarily with a 0-10 run thanks to 4 points from Matt Marsh to go up 20-31. ASVEL’s defense picked up and held Barcelona to just a free throw in a 8-1 run over 4 minutes to make it 32-35. And the score was 32-38 at the break. Doualla started the second half with a triple to cut the deficit to 3 points, but Bonilla started a 1-19 push over 7 minutes which included six points from Tendero for a 36-57 advantage. Killian Malwaya picked up six points at the other end and Doualla added a three-point play to trim the gap to 47-63 after 30 minutes. Doualla added the first four points of the fourth quarter and the deficit was 12 points, only to see Barcelona deliver the knockout punch with a 2-8 run to go ahead 55-73. And ASVEL was not closer than 16 points the rest of the way.