Behind the infernal pace of Monaco, still undefeated after nine days, Paris and Bourg-en-Bresse are still holding on to their dolphin costumes. Hosting Chalon on Saturday afternoon, the club from the capital won by a deceptive margin (85-70), as the promoted side caused them problems. Unthinkable after four minutes, when Mehdy Ngouama made it 21-3! Stunned, Élan came back in several stages, helped by seven consecutive points from Dirk Williams just before halftime (42-37, 20th) then the success of Olivier Cortale (16 points, 9 rebounds).
The interior brought Savo Vucevic’s men back four lengths on yet another mid-distance basket (70-66, 35th). But TJ Shorts then blocked the path to the feat. The best scorer and passer in the Championship pierced the Chalonnaise defense with two sharp drives to close the gap (80-68, 38th) and secure his double-double (12 points, 13 assists). Collin Malcolm, still valuable (16 points), then took over from his teammate in Bonn last season to fold the match.
Bourg-en-Bresse enjoyed a quiet afternoon in Dijon despite a reduced workforce: Hugo Benitez (broken foot) and Zaccharie Risacher (spared) were not on the trip to the JDA. Former Auburn NCAA trigger Bryce Brown (19 points) quickly made up for their absences by guiding the JL in a thunderous start to the match (29-13, 10th). Dijon – now 15th with 3 wins in 9 matches – never came back, weighed down by their failing three-point skill (6 out of 22). Maxsim Salash and Ishaia Mike (32 points combined) took over from Brown to secure Bourg’s victory.
Blois and Le Mans at the end of the suspense
To see a suspenseful end to the match, you had to look to the two other matches on the 6:30 p.m. multiplex. In its Jeu de Paume venue, Blois snatched an improbable victory after extra time over Nancy (99-98 AD). Trailing by five points halfway through the five additional minutes (87-92, 43rd), Mickaël Hay’s players reduced the gap to one length thanks to a winning basket from Robert Woodard (95-96, 44th) with seven seconds to the buzzer.
But after making two shots to give Nancy some air, Frank Mason was penalized with a severe unsportsmanlike foul on Milan Barbitch’s rise to the ball. The young leader from Blès – author of his best match in the elite (30th rating with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists) – did not tremble on the line (97-98) to offer a match point to the his. A final attempt ended with an “airball” from Woodard… saved by Josh Hawley, victim of a foul – contested by the Nancy players – four tenths from the buzzer in his fight for the rebound. On his 27th birthday, the American also converted his two throws to offer victory to the ADA which returned to the positive side (5 victories, 4 defeats), just behind Nancy (5 v., 3 l .).
Finally, Le Mans emerged victorious from another match with an incredible ending. Devante Jones left a free throw on the way in the “money-time” before being punished by Roanne and Kadri Moendadze author of a very distant prize-winning basket (69-70, 39th). But with eight seconds on the clock, D’Shawn Schwartz crossed the entire field to score a double step in the Roanne defense and offer victory to the MSB which is giving itself some air (12th, 4 victories, 5 defeats) at the opposite of Roanne (16th, 2 v., 7d.).
2023-10-28 19:27:36
#Betclic #Élite #Paris #continues #Blois #Mans #win #suspense
