Valencia left Lyon-Villeurbanne with a 105-92 victory, and the final scoreline tells the story of a game decided at the free-throw line rather than in open play. Both teams finished with 34 successful field goals and 13 made three-pointers, yet the visitors walked away with a 13-point cushion thanks to a decisive advantage in points from the stripe.
The shooting numbers were remarkably similar across the board. Lyon-Villeurbanne attempted 77 field goals and converted 34, while Valencia needed only 66 attempts to reach the same 34 makes. From beyond the arc, the hosts went 13-of-31 and Valencia 13-of-29, a near-identical return. The separation came at the line: Valencia knocked down 24 of 33 free throws, while Lyon-Villeurbanne managed just 11 of 17. That 13-point gap in made free throws matches the final margin exactly, underlining how the game was won.
Valencia also controlled the glass, pulling down 41 rebounds to Lyon-Villeurbanne's 28. The split was particularly lopsided on the defensive end, where the visitors collected 30 boards against 19 for the home side, limiting second-chance opportunities and allowing them to dictate tempo. Offensively, Valencia grabbed 11 rebounds to Lyon-Villeurbanne's nine, a narrower but still useful edge.
Ball movement was one area where the hosts held their own. Lyon-Villeurbanne dished out 23 assists to Valencia's 21, and they protected the ball slightly better, committing 10 turnovers to Valencia's 13. The home side also blocked six shots compared to three for Valencia and recorded three steals against five for the visitors. But those positives were undermined by foul trouble: Lyon-Villeurbanne were whistled for 27 personal fouls, seven more than Valencia's 20, a discrepancy that fed directly into the free-throw imbalance and put the hosts on the back foot for long stretches.
There were no penalties, no red cards and no recorded incidents in this fixture, so the outcome rested entirely on execution in the half-court and discipline at the line. For anyone following the Lyon-Villeurbanne vs Valencia preview, the numbers confirm what the scoreboard suggested: this was a close contest in almost every statistical category except the one that matters most.
The result carries weight for the league standings, with Valencia banking crucial points on the road against a direct rival while Lyon-Villeurbanne are left to rue a night of missed free throws and fouls. The hosts matched their opponent shot for shot from the field but could not survive the constant trips to the stripe, and Valencia's composure there proved the difference between a tight game and a comfortable win.
