Three days after the serious setback suffered at home against Monaco (100-75), this defeat against the Roca Team still seemed to be in the minds of the members of the squad led by TJ Parker.

From the outset, Asvel's business was looking bad, since in addition to the absences of Raymar Morgan, David Lighty, Victor Wembanyama and William Howard, still injured, was added the last minute package of its star Elie Okobo , 3rd best scorer in the Euroleague, hit in the shoulder.

And to make matters worse, the leader Antoine Diot left on injury in the middle of a very sluggish first quarter, concluded with only 11 points scored (11-17).

Borrowed and sometimes nervous in the face of more diligent Serbs, the Villeurbannais were kept at around ten lengths.

Shortly before half-time, Charles Kahudi tried to sound the revolt on a spectacular counter.

But his teammates chained hungry offensive actions, like Marcos Knight, not successful (2/8 on shots).

"The first half was terrible to live through, defensively it wasn't so bad but offensively we couldn't find each other. We lost far too many balls to hope for anything", declared TJ Parker afterwards. Villeurbanne coach.

stuffy

Returning from the locker room, Asvel managed to reverse the trend, then to point in the lead (49-48) at the end of the third quarter, thanks to a tight defense and a few flashes from Paul Lacombe and Chris Jones, all two authors of 17 points, while the leader Ognjen Dobric (20 points) kept his people afloat.

At the end of a stifling fourth quarter, during which the two teams remained neck and neck, it was Jones who put on the savior suit with a superb lay-up sealing the Villeurbannaise victory, before a final missed shot Serbs under the clamor of the 2,000 spectators of the Astroballe.

TJ Parker's men, who had plummeted in the standings at the end of the year, notably under the effect of injuries and cases of Covid-19, and remained on a single victory in the last seven European games, with in particular a slap received in beginning of the week by Monaco in this same room (75-100).

Tony Parker's club, 13th in the standings before the meeting, moved up to 12th place and is approaching a victory in the top 8, qualifying for the play-offs.

Asvel are to receive Bayern Munich, another direct opponent in the fight for the final phase, on Tuesday before traveling to Saint-Petersburg on March 1.

At Asvel, we hope that this time Elie Okobo will be able to play.

© 2022 AFP