The two clubs, which have the lowest wage bills in the competition, are logically in the second half of the table.
Asvel, which can no longer, like Alba, consider qualifying for the final phase, has recorded only one victory in its last nine European outings and its record is nine successes for seventeen defeats.
If the Villeurbannaise team is in difficulty in the Euroleague where it would like to reach its number of victories obtained in 2021 (13) and the best possible ranking for the financial bonus, it remains however very efficient in domestic competitions with eight consecutive victories in the league. de France and a success in the French Cup.
Deprived of David Lighty, Raymar Morgan and Elie Okobo but with the return of Antoine Diot, Asvel tried to hold on against their German opponent under the impetus of Paul Lacombe (18 pts), Chris Jones (22 pts ) and Marcos Knight (11 points).
The two formations often engaged in a crossover with many approximations on both sides until the last seconds.
At halftime, the score was 43-40 for Alba Berlin and 60-55 at the end of the third quarter with eleven points ahead for the Berliners (54-43, 25th), carried by Jaleen Smith (16 pts), Jonas Mattisseck (13 pts), Maodo Lo (12 pts) and Johannes Thiemann (10 pts) before Villeurbanne briefly regained the advantage (55-54, 27th and 68-66, 36th).
Five lengths behind Alba with eleven seconds remaining, the Rhodaniens tried everything and even came back to one point on three free throws from Jones and two from Lacombe (80-81) before a final free throw from Luke Skima ( 82-80).
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