Andersen and Newley maintain their good form
Brad Newley continued his string of excellent performances in the Eurocup, leading Gran Canaria to their third victory in the Last 32. In the FIBA Europe Cup, David Andersen had yet another dominating performance for ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne in a big win.
Round 5 of the Euroleague Top 16 saw Lokomotiv Kuban take on Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade. Coming out of the gates, Crvena were the aggressor. They would earn an early 13-2 lead, continuing to build in their advantage as they went into half time leading 50-37.
In the second half, Lokomotiv tried fighting their way back into the game, but they had trouble consistently scoring, no thanks to Crvena’s stingy defense. They held Lokomotiv to 33% shooting on the night and in the end, that would hurt them allowing their Serbian opposition to come away with an 80-66 victory.
Ryan Broekhoff finished the game scoring 7 points, grabbing 3 rebounds and securing one steal. Although the stat sheet may say otherwise, he played well. He did all the little things that don’t show up in the box score, such as diving for loose balls, hustling for rebounds, and playing with energy on the defensive end of the floor.
Zalgiris Kaunas looked to get their second win in the competition, facing Khimki Moscow in what proved to be a high scoring game. Both teams would fight back and forth, yet Khimki would take a slight lead (25-18) at the end of the first period. They’d keep piling on the points through the rest of the first half, going into halftime up 52-38.
In the second half, Zalgiris were unable to find an answer to stopping Khimki's high powered offense, allowing them to shoot 57% from the field. That would be their downfall as Khimki came away with a convincing 111-80 win.
Brock Motum struggled with his shot for most of the game, as he went 2/10 on field goal attempts. He would end the night scoring 5 points with 6 rebounds in 14 minutes of playing time.
Round 4 of the Last 32 saw Herbalife Gran Canaria taking on Avtodor Saratov. The Spaniards would look to consistently attack the basket early, managed to generate a 26-12 lead. From that commanding position, Gran Canaria maintained their aggressive play as they went into the main break leading 44-35.
In the second half, Avtodor Saratov looked to fight back and make a game of it, as they came out with a strong third quarter in which they outscored their Spanish foe 28-20. However, their early first quarter collapse came back to hurt them as Gran Canaria came away as victors, winning the game 92-85.
Brad Newley continued his streak of putting up double-digit scoring totals, as he finished the contest scoring 11 points (4/5 FG), 2 assists and 2 steals in 23 minutes of playing time.
CAI Zaragoza faced Banco di Sardegna Sassari in what started as a close game, with both teams looking to get an edge. However, Sassari would start to clamp down on the defensive end, holding Zaragoza to 10 points in the second period. This allowed the Italian side to go into halftime up 44-28.
In the second half, Zaragoza looked to turn things around as they started to show some fight. But in the end, they turned the ball over too many times (21 turnovers) letting Sassari come out with the win 75-72.
Isaac Fotu had a quiet game offensively, scoring 4 points, grabbing 3 rebounds and dishing out 2 assists on the night. Although he was quiet offensively, he did step up on the defensive end, doing a good job protecting the rim. With Isaac on the court, Sassari had trouble getting easy looks at the basket.
David Andersen delivered yet another dominating performance as he led ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne to their fourth win in the Round of 32 over Maccabi Rand Media. As both teams probed for opportunities as they looked to separate themselves, it was ASVEL would go into halftime with the slight edge (42-39).
In the second half, ASVEL looked to take advantage of their opponents’ lackadaisical defense, as they started scoring in bunches. They outscored Maccabi 22-13 in the third period and would go on to win the game 81-71.
David Andersen scored a team-high 21 points (6/13 FG) grabbed 8 rebounds and 2 steals. He also led the team in plus/minus as ASVEL outscored Maccabi by 20 points in his 25 minutes of playing time.