It took a bit of time for Maccabi Tel Aviv to warmup but once they did midway through the second quarter it was all one way traffic as the Yellow & Blue downed ASVEL Villeurbanne 88-69 to move their Euroleague record to 3-1 early on in the season. Oded Katash’s squad started out a bit slow as the French team controlled the pace with Nando De Colo doing damage from long distance, but once Lorenzo Brown started scoring the floodgates opened as Wade Baldwin, Josh Nebo and Bonzie Colson all scored in double digits to cruise to the 19-point victory.
Brown led the way with 17 points and 6 assists, Baldwin added 12 points and 8 assists, Colson chipped in with 13 points while Nebo scored 12 points in the win. De Colo paced the visitors with 15 points while Youssoupha Fall recorded an 11 point and 11 rebound double-double.
“Like the last game against Monaco, we picked it up on defense, Oded Katash said. “We were more focused defensively, which allowed us to control the rebounding and get some steals and run. Defense was the key for us. We adapted at halftime. We are doing a good job at halftime fixing our defense and game plan, which I like.”
“We played really good basketball for 15 minutes but then we collapsed,” TJ Parker explained. “We let them go on an 10-0 run right before halftime and that gave them all of the momentum. We knew they would come back and the crowd was pushing. But we had to make stops and stop making the mistakes that we had been making. We are a young team and young roster.”
The game MVP Lorenzo Brown also reflected on the win, “We connected out there. We are trying to find ourselves as a unit, moving the ball and getting everybody involved. That worked for us tonight. We’re just trying to win as many games as possible and prepare ourselves for the playoffs and get better throughout the year.”
Josh Nebo got to work inside with a pair of baskets for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Jonah Mathews, Retin Obasohan and big man Youssoupha Fall all scored for Villeurbanne but Lorenzo Brown scored on a reverse layup and knocked down a triple to stay close but down 10-9 midway through the first quarter. David Lighty lit it up from the inside and outside, Brown put in a 3-point play and layup, but Joffrey Lauvergne scored as well to give ASVEL a 21-15 lead after ten minutes of play.
Nando De Colo hit a trio of 3-pointers to get the second quarter underway, Roman Sorkin found a pair of baskets inside as Lighty and Rafi Menco traded triples but TJ Parker’s squad stayed ahead 34-24 with 5:56 left in the first half. Wade Baldwin put in a pair of buckets, Alex Poythress and Bonzie Colson also scored but ASVEL couldn’t stop hitting from deep as Anthony Polite and Amine Noua went from beyond the arc.
However, Poythress drilled home a triple, Brown scored a layup and Nebo put in a rebound right at the buzzer to give the Yellow & Blue a 10-0 run to finish the period and a 42-41 lead at halftime.
Obasohan and Brown traded triples to start the third quarter, Colson and Sorkin added baskets, while De Colo and Obasohan found points but Maccabi kept the lead 51-48 midway through the frame. Colson scored on the inside and the outside, Brown put in a 3-point play, Nebo scored, John Dibartolomeo joined the party with a 3-pointer and Baldwin hit a midrange jumper to give Oded Katash’s team a 68-52 advantage after thirty minutes of action.
Nebo scored a pair of buckets to begin the fourth quarter, Mathews and Fall responded but Baldwin scored a 3-point play to put Maccabi up 75-58 with 6:51 left in regulation time. Jalen Adams made his first field goal as a member of the Yellow & Blue when he hit a sweet 3-pointer, Fall and Polite tried to keep ASVEL hanging around but Austin Hollins put down an exclamation mark dunk and Dibartolomeo drilled home a triple to polish off the win.
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