The Blues thus won their third match, occupied the head of group E and will host Cyprus on Sunday at the Arena Futuroscope, near Poitiers, to take a big step towards the Euro (August 27-September 14 in Latvia, Finland, Poland and in Cyprus). Or even get their ticket depending on the other results. The French have long been lacking in skill (27/64), behind the arc (7/24) and closer to the basket, and have sometimes confused their set-up, after only four training sessions together for a new group coached by a new staff. Including the boss, Frédéric Fauthoux, rather calm throughout the meeting.
Makoundou eclipses Traoré
They escaped the Cypriot trap first thanks to a thunderous start to the fourth quarter: 13-0 to start and take a 14-length lead (64-50) carried at arm’s length by Yoan Makoundou. The power forward on loan from Monaco to Ankara scored all the points in this sequence, notably making a 4/4 on free throws, scoring a winning shot then a furious dunk on the counter-attack. He finished as the top French scorer and with his record for points in the selection (15, plus 7 rebounds and 3 assists).
Makoundou and his teammates then benefited from a boost, when Cyprus came back to breathe down their necks at -7. Amine Noua blocked a Cypriot, but after the ball bounced on the board, an illegal action not seen by the referees. Behind, Axel Bouteille scored on the counter-attack and the Cypriot coach, furious, received a technical foul, giving the Frenchman another free throw, converted. Result: instead of seeing their lead dwindle to five lengths at 2 min 30 sec, the Blues took a 10 point lead, before folding the game on a winning shot from Nolan Traoré 90 seconds from the end (72-59 ).
The only one succeeded (1/3) by the 18-year-old leader, a great French hope in the position and announced among the first choices of the next NBA draft. For his first selection, he alternated between the good, a few well-finished penetrations (3rd, 19th) or brilliant assists (4th, 19th and 34th), and the less good (two ball losses, 4/10 shooting).
