Deck finishes off the job for Real Madrid at the Astroballe
The Argentinian breaks into the last quarter and the whites keep the pace high in the Euroleague, with a possible injury to Tavares
MADRID, 3 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid beat ASVEL Villeurbanne (71-75) this Friday on matchday 26 of the Euroleague held at the Astroballe, a clash that was under control from the first quarter but required a final rush to finish it off, with Gabi Deck from protagonist.
Chus Mateo’s team made it 18-7, second in the table, despite the drop in the second half. The white coach dosed his team before the 12-game marathon that March brings and kept up his good dynamics to get the playoffs on track more and more.
Madrid’s fifth consecutive victory, tied with leaders Olympiacos and one game less, was based on a very serious first half. The Spanish team came to command 17 points, but in the second half their foreign success dropped and ASVEl threatened with a comeback like the one that had already endorsed the Greek team.
Without Sergio Llull, Guerschon Yabusele, Rudy Fernández or Adam Hanga, Madrid plugged in from the start (10-20) to manage that minimum cushion of ten that lasted until the last quarter. Williams-Goss directed the game well, better than Sergio Rodríguez, Musa was the striker and Walter Tavares commanded inside.
The second quarter was already a warning from the French, capable of getting into the game at halftime (32-47), although Mateo’s men did damage with the offensive rebound. The local team looked for De Colo after the restart and the ASVEL star signed a nice exchange of three-pointers with his compatriot Causeur.
It was the last sweet moment of the Madrid attack, since, with Hezonja gone and Musa without his usual role, the whites saw ASVEL grow. The Frenchmen, led by Obasohan, lacked a triple (4/26) to finish putting fear into the body of a Madrid that came out of its worst moment thanks to Deck.
The Argentine caught decisive rebounds and scored in the quiet quarter five minutes from the end. With the mattress recovered and with ASVEL without scoring one, Madrid tied a vital victory before the upcoming intensive match. The bad news was the lame retirement of Tavares, sprained ankle with 28 seconds to go.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: ASVEL VILLEURBANNE, 71 – REAL MADRID, 75. (32-47, at halftime).
–EQUIPMENT.
ASVEL VILLEURBANNE: Bost (7), De Colo (13), Noua (-), Risacher (-) and Fall (10) –initial quintet– Diot (-), Obasohan (9), Tyus (8), Mathews (13), Kahudi (3), Lighty (8).
REAL MADRID: Williams-Goss (13), Causeur (14), Hezonja (2), Cornelie (5) and Tavares (7) — the starting quintet — Sergio Rodriguez (5), Musa (11), Deck (12) , Poirier (3), Hanger (-), Farmer (3), Food (-).
— PARTIALS: 10-20, 22-27, 22-16, 17-12.
–REFEREES: Ryzhyk, Pastusiak and Majkic. No deleted.
–PAVILLION: Astroballe.