ASVEL uses record shooting display to win in Ulm

ASVEL Villeurbanne put together a historic three-point shooting performance in grabbing an 84-94 victory at ratiopharm Ulm to stay in the hunt for the Top 16 from Group D. John Roberson nailed a team record 8 three-pointers in scoring 25 points for ASVEL, which knocked down 19 of 32 three-pointers - the second most in EuroCup history behind only UNICS Kazan’s 20 threes in November 2009. ASVEL’s previous individual club record was 6 by Edwin Jackson in October 2013 against Ulm. AJ Slaughter added 5 three-pointers of his own for 22 points as ASVEL improved to 4-3 while Darryl Watkins picked up 17 points and 10 rebounds and Charles Kahudi scored 10 points in the victory. Ulm dropped to 2-5 despite Ryan Thompson collecting 22 points and 7 assists and Da Sean Butler hitting 5 three-pointers en route to 15 points. Jerrelle Benimon added 13 points and 6 rebounds in the defeat.

Neither team scored in the first two minutes before Isaac Fotu’s jumper. And it was 4-0 when Kahudi knocked down a three-pointer for ASVEL’s first basket at the 6:50-minute mark. Benimon made it 10-5 before Slaughter’s three-pointer to bring it to 10-8. A Butler triple had the hosts up 13-8, but ASVEL had woken up with another Slaughter three-pointer, a steal and dunk by DeMarcus Nelson and a Justin Harper three at the buzzer to finish with a 2-8 spurt and lead 17-21 after 10 minutes. Slaughter continued his strong game with a layup and triple to increase the margin to 17-26. Toure Murray finally got Ulm on the board after nearly two minutes, but Roberson nailed a pair of threes as the advantage grew to 11 points. Butler hit from long range again before Thompson took over for Ulm with 9 straight points to get the hosts to within 41-43 at halftime.

The third quarter was for fans of hot outside shooting and lead changes. Thompson started it with a triple to give Ulm the lead. Roberson and Butler followed from long range. Ismet Akpinar’s three made it 54-50, but Roberson and Slaughter went back-to-back from outside and a Nelson layup put AVSEL ahead 57-61. Thompson responded with 6 straight points only to see Slaughter and Murry swap threes for two more lead changes – nine total in the quarter – and Ulm led 66-64 after 30 minutes. Two Fotu baskets and 2 Murry free throws had the hosts up 72-67, but Amine Noua nailed his second triple of the quarter before Kahudi also found the range and Roberson added two more three-pointers in increasing the gap to 80-86. A Kahudi put-back had the margin at 81-88, but Ulm would not give up as Benimon trimmed the deficit to 84-88. Watkins however knocked down a big jumper with 38 seconds left to give ASVEL an 84-90 cushion and decide the game. The big man then finished the game with a three-pointer - the team’s 19th of the game.