By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Two players – Rudy Fernandez and Guerschon Yabusele – stepped up when most needed for Real Madrid and gave the Whites a 70-58 home win against ASVEL in Euroleague.
ASVEL was up 47-46 near the end of the third quarter but that was the moment when Real Madrid‘s surge started off. Fernandez banked in a three-pointer to finish the period but he also kept the momentum going into the final ten minutes.
Fernandez made two more triples to keep Madrid’s run alive and Yabusele followed up his teammate with nine points. The duo lifted Real Madrid up to a 16-point lead (68-52) and the winner was certain.
Rudy finished as the leading scorer of his team with 17 points while Yabusele had 12 and Vincent Poirier ten points. Poirier also grabbed 12 rebounds.
On ASVEL’s side, Chris Jones scored 17 as well while David Lighty helped with 11 points.
Real Madrid continues the recovery after a bad streak and has now improved to an 18-6 record in the second spot of the Euroleague standings. Meanwhile, ASVEL holds a 7-17 record in 13th place.
Coach Pablo Laso was satisfied with his team’s performance, especially so on defense and he highlighted Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez with praise.
“They are always there. That’s why they are great players, great veterans and the focus of the team. I think they played very good, not only jumpers, which is important, hitting shots, but also defensively and leadership. That’s something that you get with time and for sure, being great players. I am very happy for the victory. I think we did a great defensive job the whole game,” Laso said.