Euroleague: De Colo condemns Bara ‘in extremis’ to lose to Villeurbanne at the Palau | euroleague 2022

The French shooting guard guides his team to victory away from home, scoring the decisive basket in the last moments. The hosts squandered a 12-point lead early in the third quarter

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Villeurbanne did not miss its opportunity. The French group, through flashes of quality by Nando de Colo (19 points, 20 rating)decisive at the moment of truth, and taking advantage of a very good game of Youssoupha Fall (24 points, 25 efficiency) finally surprised a Bara who only really performed at his level in the third quarter to take a 74-75 triumph of their visit to the Palau. At times, the Barcelona fans seemed capable of weathering the storm through occasional appearances by Mirotic, Kuric or Laprovittola, but they finally ended up conceding their fourth defeat in this edition of the Euroleague.

Bara experienced a complicated start to the game. It was difficult for him to convert his attack actions into points and he was not fine in defense either. With this panorama, Villeurbanne managed to get a maximum difference of 11 points, taking advantage of Fall’s centimeters and a great run from Mathews (8-19). A distance that the Barcelona fans, in a final rush, managed to reduce by up to 15-21 that he was about to lower himself even more with a desperate triple from Kuric almost from midfield that crashed into the hoop..

The proverbial aim in the triples of the Indiana player, some flashes from Laprovittola and punctual contributions from Mirotic, meanwhile, would be the great keys for a much more successful Bara in attack to turn the situation around in the second quarter. His greatest offensive potential, precisely, was what allowed him to leave the rest with six points ahead in the light (46-40) after signing a 31-19 run against a rival that he found in this case in Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Charles Kahudi his best arguments to try to stay hooked on the game.

WASTED PARTIAL

After the break, Bara seemed to break the game in their favor with a more than toned start, with Mirotic as the great protagonist, which allowed them to win very soon with a maximum difference of 12 points (52-40). Villeurbanne, far from throwing in the towel, gritted his teeth and managed to reduce that maximum distance to four points (57-53) with a 5-13 partial built by means of a very choral attack to which the locals, after experiencing a drop in performance, will find, despite everything, their corresponding response. An answer that would allow them to reach the last period six points up on the scoreboard (62-57), but with mixed feelings.

These mixed sensations, in fact, would end up being reflected in a last quarter in which Villeurbanne, drawing on the quality of De Colo and good actions by Fall, but also with a couple of arbitration decisions tremendously protested by the Palau he had his foot on the Bara’s neck for many minutes. With one second and three tenths to go, in fact, Villeurbanne led by the minimum (74-75) thanks, precisely, to a late action by the French escort. The locals had to gamble heads or tails. Her desperate action, however, did not find the prize sought.