Few spectators inside Mediolanum Forum or fans watching EA7 Emporio Armani Milan’s home game against LCLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on television would have predicted that the visiting team’s forward, Jonah Mathews, would emerge as the contest’s hero after enduring a poor first half.
ASVEL, who came out on top 79-73 to end a five-game losing streak and inflict a fourth successive loss on Milan, was 42-37 up at halftime largely thanks to Nando De Colo and Charles Kahoudi, while Mathews played a fringe role in building the advantage, having accrued just 2 points.
What's more, all three men were overshadowed by impressive first-half performances from Milan’s Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Brandon Davies, who posted 14 and 11 points respectively in the opening two quarters.
Davies looked like the only player likely to grab the headlines after pouring in 12 points in the third quarter, leaving the opposition players stunned with a demonstration of force which had Milan 62-57 ahead early in the fourth quarter.
Enter Mathews. The 24-year-old from San Francisco, who joined ASVEL last July from Polish side Anvil Wloclawek, scored 9 points in the third quarter, but he lit up the contest when the chips were down and sank one audacious long-range shot after another to turn the tide.
With Davies tiring, Mathews grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and made sure the visitors came away with a massive road win to rekindle their slim hopes of reaching the playoffs. Mathews finished the game with 17 points, while he recorded an assist to Alex Tyus to put the cherry on top of the victory.
