The two French guards shined bright against their former team
Okobo, Strazel inspire Monaco fightback against ASVEL, 103-92
The French League derby between AS Monaco and LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne went the way of the principality club, which scored 65 second-half points to come away with a 103-92 victory in Round 11. Monaco, with Manuchar Markoishvili acting as interim head coach after the dismissal of Sasa Obradovic on Monday, improved to 7-4 while ASVEL fell to 3-8.
Elie Okobo finished with 27 points, his highest in 89 EuroLeague games for Monaco and the second-highest total of his EuroLeague career. Monaco also had Mike James (17 points), Jaron Blossomgame (14), Matthew Strazel (12), Alpha Diallo (12), and Jordan Loyd (10) score in double digits. For ASVEL, Theo Maledon scored 24 points, Mbaye Ndiaye added 18, Joffrey Lauvergne netted 12, and Nando De Colo had 10.
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Although Monaco had the first few leads of the game, its 6-4 advantage proved to be the last time it would be ahead until the second half. A response by ASVEL inspired by Maledon, who continued his excellent form in this game, saw the visitors move 8-14 ahead before Ndiaye’s three-pointer made it 8-17 and Neal Sako scored inside to set an 8-19 score. Okobo then went on a one-man mission to breathe life into Monaco, scoring 10 of Monaco’s 12 points in the final 3:30 of the first quarter, but ASVEL still led 20-25 after 10 minutes.
Monaco kept fighting through Strazel and Blossomgame, yet ASVEL continued to find ways to stay in front. In particular, it was the turn of the bigs to make an impact, with Lauvergne and Motiejunas making their presence felt. Okobo managed to tie the game at 34-34, and Motiejunas again at 36-36, but it was Pierric Poupet’s men who took a 38-40 lead into the break after scores by Lauvergne and Ndiaye.
The halftime interval did wonders for Monaco, which scored the first 10 points of the third quarter – 7 of which came from James – to go 48-40 up, the first time it had been ahead since early in the first. De Colo, Ndiaye and then Lauvergne brought ASVEL within 51-49, but Strazel, Diallo and Blossomgame punched right back, then Strazel took over. First he hit a three-pointer (60-53), then he stole the ball and drew a foul from Andre Roberson, which led to 2 made free throws. When he forced Shaq Harrison to commit an offensive foul, he pumped his chest and received a loud cheer from the crowd. Later, Okobo put his fingerprints on the quarter by scoring 7 points in the final 1:37 to make it 75-61. A three-pointer by Charles Kahudi at the end of the first quarter ensured it was 75-64 entering the final frame.
Okobo kept rolling in the fourth, scoring 10 of Monaco’s first 13 fourth-quarter points as the lead swelled to 85-69. Jordan Loyd’s triple to move the score to 92-74 set the hosts’ game-high lead, but David Lighty and Ndiaye drained back-to-back three-pointers to make things interesting at 92-82. Monaco managed to keep ASVEL at arm’s length the rest of the way, aided by Georgios Papagiannis and James, as Coach Markoishvili saw his team win 103-92 in his first game as interim head coach.