Paris (AFP)
Villeurbanne ended a series of four consecutive defeats in the Euroleague by going to beat Olympiakos on his floor Friday night (69-63) on behalf of the 20th day.
Carried by a very great Guerschon Yabusele, TJ Parker's men were scared at the very end of the match but recorded their sixth European victory of the season in nineteen games, their second away, against a contender for the play -offs.
The French built their victory on a solid defense, regularly pushing their opponent after 24 seconds and conceding only 9 points in the third quarter, during which they made the difference and widened the gap, brought to +12 at the start of the fourth quarter (31st).
Symbol of Greek powerlessness, Olympiakos leader Kostas Sloukas, more than 23 points on average over his last three European matches, only scored two on Friday, his lowest total of the season in the Euroleague.
A performance opposite to that of Guerschon Yabusele: the French interior flew over the meeting, scoring 19 points (3/6 to 3 pts) and taking 5 rebounds.
Faced with a team used to the end of a canon match, Asvel did not fail to scare themselves in the fourth quarter, seeing the Greeks return to 5 points two minutes from the buzzer.
But the Villeurbanne didn't panic and remained strong enough to win, despite an unflattering 9/17 on free throws.
"It's a very nice answer given after the non-match against Panathinaikos", savored TJ Parker at the microphone of RMC Sport at the end of the match, two days after an inglorious defeat at the other club in Athens (88-71).
If it remains penultimate in the competition, Asvel reunites with the "Pana" thanks to this victory, before finding Olympiakos on Tuesday at the Astroballe, in a late match for the 10th day.
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