Chalon-sur-Saône (AFP)
Châlon-sur-Saône broke Sunday the new momentum of Lyon-Villeurbanne, winner of the Olympiakos in the Euroleague on Friday, and won hands down (85-75) a late match of the 12th day of the Elite Championship dominated from start to finish. end by the Burgundians.
Unlike Friday, the men of TJ Parker could not count on a Guerschon Yabusele of the great evenings (11 points).
They were already down 44-41 at the break, probably the fault of fatigue from their two Euroleague matches this week (defeat against Panathinaikos, victory against Olympiakos).
In his Colosseum, Elan Châlon was never really worried by a much too clumsy Asvel, like his two best American scorers, Derrick Walton (15 points, but too many failed baskets) and David Lighty ( 11 pts).
On the other hand, Châlon could count on a very effective duo made up of his small playmaker (1m68) Jordan Crawford (27 pts, 9 assists) and his back Sean Armand (22 pts).
The two men made the Villeurbanais dizzy and allowed Elan to lead by 10 points (71-61) at the start of the 4th quarter.
Châlon only had to control to prevent Asvel from coming back to the score.
The Elan even went so far as to lead by 15 points (81-66) after a monstrous three-point shot from the twirling Crawford, followed just after two impeccable free throws from the best player of the match, untenable.
This third consecutive victory for Julien Espinosa's men allows the Elan to get out of the red zone and move up from 16th to 14th tied place in the Elite Championship, with 37.5% success, while the Asvel remains in the Top 5 even if his winning percentage drops a little (62.5%).
Asvel will regain the charms of the Euroleague in the form of Olympiakos, Tuesday at Astroballe, in a late match of the 10th day.
The hellish pace continues.
© 2021 AFP