LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne rallied late in regulation to become the French League champion for third consecutive time after a thrilling 84-82 overtime win over AS Monaco in the deciding Game 5 of their final series.
Domestic leagues: ASVEL wins OT thriller for French League three-peat
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In a roller-coaster game that had everything, ASVEL won the crown for 21st time, becoming the first team in more than three decades to win three straight titles with William Howard as its hero.
ASVEL opened the game with a 10-2 run behind triple from Marcus Knight and Elie Okobo, before baskets from Youssoupha Fall fueled another ASVEL run that increase the margin to 24-7. Donatas Motiejunas got Monaco going, and Paris Lee nailed a three-pointer to spark a 0-7 run that got the visitors within 31-26. But ASVEL kept the lead safe with triples from Chris Jones and Dylan Osetkowski, and took 43-33 advantage into halftime.
Monaco was back in it early in the third when a three from Lee and a pair of baskets from Jerry Boutsiele cut it to 47-44. After defenses took control of the game on both sides, Monaco used a 2-8 run capped by Dwayne Bacon to tie it at 53-53 in the final minute of the third. In the first 100 seconds of the fourth quarter, Mike James scored 8 points, including back-to-back triples to give Monaco its first lead, 55-61, before Bacon had a basket-and-one to open 60-68. However, David Lighty hit a three-pointer and William Howard scored twice, including a steal and a layup to cut it to 67-68. Back-to-back short jumpers from Jones put ASVEL back up, 71-70, but Bacon banked a jumper on the other end with 46 seconds left in the fourth. Diallo made 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch to make it 73-75 with 7.6 seconds to go in regulation, enough time for Okobo to tie the score with a layup, drawing a foul. But with 1.8 seconds left Okobo missed additional free throw to win it, as the game went into overtime.
In the extra session, ASVEL scored the first 5 points behind a triple from Howard, but Monaco answered with a 0-6 run, as a driving layup from James made it 80-81 with 1:05 to go. That's when Howard hit a triple to give ASVEL a lead, which he preserved racing down for a key blocked shot on Lee's fastbreak layup attempt with 13 seconds to go. Monaco had 8.9 seconds for final possession, but Howard pick Bacon's pocket, stealing the ball and sealing the win.
Howard finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds, while Okobo collected 20 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds. Fall scored 14 points in a victory. For Monaco, James collected 16 points plus 10 rebounds. Bacon and Diallo scored 14 apiece, and Motiejunas had 11.