Bulgarian national team Alexander Vezenkov and his Greek team Olympiacos lost to ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne 70:81 (16:14, 23:23, 13:21, 18:23) as guests in France in a match from the 31st round of the Euroleague for men, BTA reported.
The loss was the second in a row and the ninth in total for Olympiacos since the beginning of the season.
The Greek giant remains the leader in the provisional standings, while ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne broke its negative streak of seven defeats with its 12th victory in the tournament and occupies 15th position.
Alexander Vezenkov was again most productive for Olympiacos and played a good game, finishing with a “double-double“ of 25 points and 10 rebounds, adding 1 assist and 1 steal in 32 minutes on the court. Evan Fournier also scored 25 points for the guests.
The beginning of the match in France was even, and Vezenkov started excellently and was the main engine for the guests' team, scoring 9 of the 16 points for Olympiacos, and also mastering 3 rebounds.
The hosts took the lead in the second quarter, breaking away with 7 points at 26:19, and a little later ASVEL's lead became 8 points – 31:23, fixed with a three-pointer by Theo Maledon. Olympiacos' basketball players responded with 6 unanswered points, reducing the lead to 29:31, and then came close to a point - 32:33 with three minutes left before the break. The Greek team reached a 36:35 turnaround after a basket by Evan Fournier 36 seconds before the end of the first half, and at the break the score was 39:37 in favor of Olympiacos, thanks to an accurate shooting from the three-pointer by Alexander Vezenkov.
The hosts again took the lead in the opening moments of the third quarter and led 46:42 after three and a half minutes of play. In the following minutes, Vezenkov scored three consecutive attacks for Olympiacos, but ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne held the lead and before the fourth period the lead of the French team was 58:52.
A 7:0 run for Olympiacos at the start of the last half provided a new turnaround for Olympiacos to 59:58. The hosts took the lead again and three minutes before the end of the match they were leading 72:65, and with 50 seconds remaining the score was 79:70 in favor of ASVEL.
Theo Maledon was the most useful for the success of the hosts with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, while Nando de Colo contributed with 18 points and 2 rebounds.
In just two days, Vezenkov and his teammates from Olympiacos will host Monaco in the next round of the Euroleague.
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Source: www.bta.bg