ASVEL races past Valencia for first win

U18 LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne stayed alive in a race to reach the first-place game of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Valencia by knocking off host U18 Valencia Basket 94-66 in Group B. Killian Malwaya poured in 24 points to lead ASVEL, which moved to 1-1 in the group. Kenny Kasiama scored 16 and Kymany Houinsou flirted with a triple-double as he collected 14 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Felix De Almeida and Noah Manet both added 11 points each in the win. Valencia, led by Hector Marco with 11 points and Diego Rivas with 10, dropped to 0-2.

The game was even at 4-4 when ASVEL went on a 15-2 run with Malwaya converting an and-one and De Almeida hitting a three-pointer for a 19-6 lead. Sergio De Larrea answered with a triple and Marco had a three-point play for Valencia to get within 28-18 after 10 minutes. Malwaya scored 7 straight points for ASVEL in keeping Valencia down 40-26. The margin reached 17 points and ASVEL led 49-33 at the break.

ASVEL opened the second half with an 8-2 run to move ahead 57-35 and the team still led by 21 points despite not scoring for more than 2 minutes. ASVEL started scoring again and was up 75-42 after 30 minutes. Valencia managed a 0-6 spurt early in the fourth quarter, but the result had long been decided and the lead reached 33 as ASVEL cruised to victory.