Jackson, Maledon played key roles for the winners with 35 combined points
ASVEL survives ALBA, 96-89, in overtime thriller



In a game that came down to the wire, LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne bounced back from a tough home loss against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade with a hard-fought overtime victory over visiting ALBA Berlin, 96-89, at the Astroballe on Thursday night. The hosts enjoyed double-digit leads several times during the game before Malte Delow sent the game to overtime with a three-pointer. ASVEL didn’t tremble and found Edwin Jackson and Theo Maledon in the extra period to secure the win. ASVEL improved its record to 10-12, while ALBA slipped to 3-19 after its ninth straight defeat.
Jackson led ASVEL with 18 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting, Theo Maledon followed with 17 points and 4 assists, Melvin Ajinca netted 11 points and Nando De Colo and Andre Roberson scored 10 apiece. Matt Thomas paced ALBA with 20 points, Martin Hermannsson neared a double-double with 13 points and 9 assists and Delow, Yanni Wetzell, and David McCormack contributed 11, 10 and 10 respectively.
Game Videos
Maledon and Ajinca set the tone offensively for ASVEL in the early going, finding no big problems to dismantle ALBA’s soft defense and build an 11-6 edge after 5 minutes. ALBA found more balance when it brought Wetzell onto court, as he combined with Tim Schneider inside to make it a one-possession game. Thomas provided ALBA with his first strike from downtown to tie it, 15-15, but the visitors couldn’t go further and allowed a 6-0 run that Jackson completed with a buzzer-beater jumper that granted a 23-19 advantage for the hosts at the end of the first period.
Jackson remained hot early in the second with back-to-back threes to build a double-digit margin, 29-19. But the run didn’t stop here, as Shaq Harrison made a bucket and Roberson drilled a three to extend the run to 13-0 and force a timeout with the hosts comfortably ahead 34-19. The break was like medicine for the visitors, as Hermannsson and Schneider opened fire from downtown and Thomas joined later to ignite a 3-14 run that seemed to bring ALBA back into the game. Maledon had different plans, though. He stepped up, first scoring 5 points in a row, then feeding De Colo for a three and finally beating the buzzer with his first triple to close the first half with ASVEL again in control 50-40.
ALBA came up much stronger after the intermission, holding ASVEL scoreless for more than 3 minutes while finding good balance in offense with McCormack ruling inside and Thomas punishing from long range. A three by the latter made it 54-52 midway through the third quarter but, again, ALBA couldn’t go much further. This time was Ajinca, who emerged as a real threat in the perimeter to recover a 10-point lead, 65-55, in a blink of an eye. And later, when Thomas and Hermannsson seemed to reactivate the visitors again, it was Harrison who came up with a huge block and back-to-back triples to help ASVEL enter the last stanza leading 70-62.
Wetzell and ALBA took advantage of Paul Mbiya's lack of experience to strike back once again, once the game resumed. The center provided 4 points, Gabriele Procida finished a fastbreak with a slam and Will McDowell-White rose up with back-to-back threes that turned the tables and pushed ALBA up, 72-74, for the first time in the game. ASVEL didn’t panic, though, as Mbiya and David Lighty showed up right before Jackson capped a 9-2 run to return the lead to ASVEL, 81-76. But another script twist was still left, as Delow erupted in the last 2 minutes to erase the deficit to 83-82 first, then nailing a miraculous triple. Fouled on that made three, which tied it at 85-85, Delow had a chance to put ALBA ahead with 7 seconds left, but missed the bonus free throw and the game went to overtime.
Maledon opened fire with an acrobatic layup to get ASVEL going in overtime, as Ajinca took over inside to convert a free throw after an offensive rebound. ALBA did not score in the first 2 and a half minutes, which the hosts exploited to earn a 91-85 edge after another huge three by Jackson. Neal Sako increased it to 93-88 soon after from the line, as Hermannsson and McCormack missed on the next two possessions, ruining the few chances ALBA still had of coming back. Then Maledon sealed the outcome with 3 free throws.