Villeurbanne (AFP)

Villeurbanne let a 19 point advantage slip at halftime to bow 83-80 against the Red Star of Belgrade on Friday at the Astroballe, a very bad operation in the race for the top 8 of the Euroleague of basket ball.

Asvel failed to contain the rise of the Serbs, and suffered its third loss in a row in all competitions. Thrown out of the top 8 with this setback and with a difficult schedule (6 receptions for 10 trips still), their dream of reaching the play-offs becomes complicated.

Three away games are now looming in the fortnight in the Euroleague for the club of Tony Parker, who will have to achieve one or two exploits in Istanbul against Fenerbahçe and Efes and then at Panathinaikos to erase this disillusionment on his floor.

Under the eyes of the former leader of San Antonio, but also the president of Olympique Lyonnais Jean-Michel Aulas, or the manager of the franchise of the Toronto Raptors, reigning NBA champion, Masai Ujiri, Asvel has passed by all the emotions against an opponent that she had beaten on the way to Belgrade.

Serenity first, at the end of a successful first half (49-30) carried by a sparkling first quarter. Antoine Diot's partners outclassed their opponent, leading 22-5 after six minutes of play, then 30-13 after the first ten minutes, punctuated by ten rebounds won against four for the Serbs. The second quarter confirmed this impression, with the gap even increasing to 19 points.

But Villeurbanne showed a much less shiny face after the break. Antoine Diot's partners were unable to contain the foreseeable Serb reaction.

The Red Star, finally settled in attack, made up for lost time in a quarter, coming back to a point (65-64). Cold blood had changed sides, like the expulsion of coach Zvezdan Mitrović in the middle of the fourth quarter.

The Red Star took the lead six minutes from the end of the match (73-72), before flying away (80-73). But the players of Asvel came back tied in a final jump, in a room again heated to white.

But a three-point run by Kevin Punter two seconds before the end ended Asvel's hopes of victory and perhaps the dream of the Top 8.

© 2020 AFP