NM1 Day 27: Blois and Fos back in buisness
One day never looks looks like the other. Before the french Cup break, the question was to know if Antibes or Charleville had more than one foot in ProB. The answer is no. The two leaders lost on the road. Antibes got sacked in Boulogne while Charleville gave up in Blois. This result totally relaunches the greens as well as Fos which did the job in Feurs. Mulhouse also put some light to its season ending with an important win in Toulouges coupled with Longwy and Lievin's losses.
Boulogne 85-70 Antibes
Despite a little fire in the third QT (11-17), Boulogne handled this game with experience. The maritim paint was tremendous with 20pts, and 5rbs for Momo Kante plus 18pts and 12 boards for Sylla. Rick Cornett could only watch: 8pts, 5 fouls in 18'.
Blois 76-73 Charleville
Blois led the whole game long, Charleville tied a few seconds before the end but Blot secured the FTs to overcome the ardennians and keep the pressure for ProB. 5 men ranked 81 points, among them Orr and Blot, done with their suspensions, totalize 48pts and 18rbs.
Feurs 73-79 Fos
A difficult but capital win for the visitors which stick back, just like Blois, one win behing the leaders.
Challans 94-51 Andrezieux
The locals end the game with 29 steals. The most efficient player was Remi Menville who posted 25pts (10/13), 4rbs, 5stl in only 17 minutes.
Saint-Chamond 60-58 Golbey-Epinal
The liguerians won a third game in a row. Defense was the key of this game where the second best defense faced the third best. St-Chamond made the final move in the last QT (11-7). In this physical wrestle, Martial Gotagni was precious: 16pts (7/11), 4rbs, 4stl.
Toulouges 73-82 Mulhouse
The visitors were missing Obouh-Fegue who got injured during the week but the win was necessary. To overcome Toulouges and the efficient Braun (19pts, 8rbs) / Papiyon (11pts 4/6, 10rbs) pair, Sanjay Adell (198-F-77, college: Ohio) took care of the most of the job: 32pts (11/17), 13rbs.
Longwy 69-76 Angers
Another US player was on fire last Saturday: Michael Doles lifted his team to the victory with a nice performance: 28pts (11/14), 10rbs and 5stl. With this home loss, Longwy falls back into the relegating spots, letting Mulhouse clinch the conveyed 13th spot.
Lille 78-58 Lievin
Not really efficient (40%), Lille played in an agressive way that allowed only 32% shooting efficiency to Lievin and drove them 27 times to the FT line (21 FTs made). Jasaron led the scoring with 21 units while in Lievin, the replaceman to the injured Cilly, Boris Dzidic, had difficult debuts: 2pts 0/6.
Centre Federal 47-71 Bordeaux
The girondins let no chances to their opponents and soon secured their 14th win of the year.
Copyright 1998-2007 Eurobasket Inc.
French Cup: The leaders show strong, Challans also
During this Easter Weekend, the 16th final round of the French Cup took place. This was the first step for the Pro A top 8, and on the starting line we had 15 A level teams, 8 ProB teams and 9 NM1 participants.
At the end of it all we can note only one surprising result. That coming in Challans, where the home team downed Limoges. The Vendeans counted on a bright Seth Scott (28pts) to overcome the former french champ to the great pleasure of the 2800 spectators. Among the other results, we have to underline the nice performances of some other outsiders: Lille (Malet 18pts, 8rbs, 5ass) lost to Pau in the final minutes. Brest lost on the final possession against Cholet with the eternal Jimmy Verove (11pts 4/5, 4rbs, 5ass). Bourg showed that there is only a narrow gap between the top of ProB and the bottom of ProA. The big figures of the week go to Le Havre which blasted Dijon 127-95 with a 69 shooting percentage and two players above 30 raking points. Fabien Causeur prove his all-aroundness (21pts 6/6, 5rbs, 6ass) while Marcellus Sommerville (201-F-82, college: Bradley) wore his scoring machine jersey: 42pts (16/22), 5rbs, 3ass for 46 ranking points!! In the end, the actual French champ also left the competition with a loss in Orleans. Marc Salyers did the job (32pts, 11rbs) but coach Choulet blamed a few of his players.
The results:
Lille Metropole Basket (NM1) - EB Pau Orthez (Pro A) : 72-78
ADA Blois Basket 41 (NM1) - Elan Sportif Chalonnais (Pro A) : 61-92
SLUC Nancy (Pro A) - Paris Levallois (Pro A) : 70-68
Entente Orleanaise (Pro A) - Roanne Chorale (Pro A) : 81-76
ALM Evreux (Pro B) - Hyères Toulon VB (Pro A) : 61-79
Angers BC (NM1) - Fos Ouest Provence Basket (NM1) : 76-65
Etoile de Charleville Mezières (NM1) - JA Vichy (Pro A) : 64 - 107
JL Bourg Basket (Pro B) - BCM Gravelines Dunkerque GL (Pro A) : 90 - 99
Andrezieux ALS Basket (NM1) - ASVEL Lyon Villeurbanne (Pro A) : 56 - 98
Union Poitiers Basket 86 (Pro B) - Saint-Quentin BB (Pro B) : 82 - 77
GET Vosges (NM1) - Strasbourg IG (Pro A) : 59-90
Etendard Brest (Pro B) - Cholet Basket (Pro A) : 78 - 80
Feurs Forez Basket (NM1) - JSF Nanterre (Pro B) : 57-71
Vendee Challans Basket (NM1) - Limoges CSP Elite (Pro B) : 91 - 86
STB Le Havre (Pro A) - JDA Dijon Bourgogne (Pro A) : 127-95
Le Mans (Pro A) - Besancon BCD (Pro B) : 92-76
For the next round (April, 16th), among the 16 remaining teams, 12 are coming from ProA, 2 from ProB and 2 from NM1. Those two cinderellas are located in the West: Angers and Challans
Copyright 1998-2007 Eurobasket Inc.
Week 22 Round Up
Pau-Orthez 78 - 66 Paris
Pau-Orthez jumped out to an early lead and never looked back on their
way to a 12pt home victory. Pau cruised to their 9th victory of the
season and back into playoff contention lead by Antonio Graves (190-G-85, college: Pittsburgh).
Graves had another outstanding game with 24pts, 5rebs, and 5ast. Jeff
Trepagnier came of his slump scoring 14pts on 6 of 9 shooting and
grabbing 5rebs. Deji Akindele and Ludovic Vaty chipped in with 10pts
each. As a team Paris shot well from the field shooting 50.9% but
committed 15 turnovers, which proved to be the difference. Je'Kel
Foster held his own for Paris scoring 20pts on 8 of 13 shooting from
the field. Moshe Mizrahi added 13pts in the loss.
Dijon 81 - 73 Chalon
Dijon flew out of the gates scoring 30pts in the first quarter on the
way to their 5th win in the last 7 games. Dijon had a balanced
scoring attack with 5 players scoring in double figures. Damir
Krupalija led the way for Dijon scoring 15pts and grabbing 11rebs.
David Simon had a game high 17pts and Maleye Ndoye added 14pts and
7ast. Chalon had balanced scoring with 5 players scoring in double
figures. Rowan Barrett had a team high 15pts and Jermaine Guice added
14pts.
Hyeres-Toulon 81 - 77 Nancy
Nancy continues their downward spiral with their 4th loss in the last
5 games, while Hyeres-Toulon moves to 500 with their 11th victory.
Nancy held a 2pt lead at half time but could not close the deal losing
a close fought game. Daniel Horton had a game high 23pts and also
dropped 6 dimes for Hyeres-Toulon. Tony Williams chipped in with
16pts while shooting 4 of 5 from the field and a perfect 6 of 6 from
the line. Ricardo Greer led Nancy with 18pts and Victor Samnick with
19pts.
Gravelines 79 - 72 Clermont
Clermont led Gravelines entering the 4th qt with a 4pt lead and looked
poised to win their 5th game of the season, but folded in the final
quarter getting out scored by 11pts. Vincent Grier carried Gravelines
on his back scoring a game high 28pts while shooting 66.7% from the
field. Marcus Slaughter scored 11pts and controlled the boards
grabbing 11rebs. Clermont had 4 players score in double figures led
by Tony Skinn and Benoit Gillet with 16pts each.
Le Mans 96 - 93 Roanne
Nicolas Batumn game Le Mans a 96 - 93 lead with 2 free throws in the
closing seconds. Derrick Byars had a chance to send the game into
overtime in at the buzzer, but was unable to connect. In this high
scoring affair Le Mans had 6 players score in double figures led by
Phillip Ricci with 21pts. Nebojsa Bogavac added 20pts and 7rebs, and
Alain Koffi recorded a double-double. Marc Salyers did all that he
could for Roanne scoring 28pts. Brion Rush and Derrick Byars were the
only other players to score in double figures with 11pts each.
Le Havre 97 - 89 ASVEL
ASVEL was unable to stop T.J. Thompson who blew up with a season high
34pts leading Le Havre to an 8pt victory over ASVEL. Wen Mukubu was
an important part of the victory scoring 23pts. ASVEL had 4 players
combine for 82 of the team's 89pts. Robert Conley led the way with
23pts, but only shot 38% from the field. Uche Nsonwu-Amadi recorded a
double double with 21pts and 10rebs. Chevy Troutman added 21pts in
the loss.
Orleans 86 - 79 Cholet
Orleans cooled off red-hot Cholet with a 7pt home victory. Brandon
Heath was the star of the game scoring 28pts while shooting 6 of 9
from the 3pt line for Orleans. Benjamin Dewar was a major contributor
to the victory with 23pts and 4rebs. Cholet had 4 players to combine
for 77 of the team's 79pts. Nando De Colo led Cholet with23pts and
9rebs. Claude Marquis added 22pts while Steed Tchicamboud added
20pts.
Strasbourg 69 - 74 Vichy
Strasbourg suffered their 3rd straight loss with a 7pt loss to Vichy.
Vichy used a balanced scoring attack with 5 players scoring in double
figures led by a team high 15pts by Rasheed Wright. William Gradit
scored 14pts while Zach Moss added 12pts. Eddie Shannon led the way
for Strasbourg with 19pts, 4rebs, and 6ast. Sacha Giffa added 13pts
and John McCord added 12pts.
Copyright 1998-2007 Eurobasket Inc.
NM1 Day 25: Important wins for Antibes and Charleville
Decisive reults this week in the quest for PROB. Antibes and Charleville gained the two first spots after thrilling wins in Blois and against Bordeaux. Fos and Blois gather at place 3, one win behind. Despite its home loss, Longwy preserves its advance over Mulhouse which couldn't score more then 50 points in St-Chamond. Moreover we can underline the first win of the CFBB in 2007/2008, over Anderzieux.
Blois 71-81 Antibes
Orr suspended and Blot sidelined with a painful shoulder, the locals weren't at their best to host the co-leader. On the court, the greens fought until the last QT (52-56, 30') with an optimal Brazil (35pts, 11rbs). But the alternative players from the game in Andrezieux last WE weren't as efficient against Antibes. So the azureans secured the win in the final QT with a better 3pts accuracy (18% vs 33%) plus Doubal (21pts), Cornett (15pts, 13rbs) and Sauret's (11pts, 5rbs, 4stl, 4ass) performances.
Charleville 88-86 Bordeaux
Late win for the leader which pulled off a huge gap by winning the second half 52-40. Kresta (17pts 7/9, 5rbs) and his partners found enough accuracy (57%) to overcome their 20 turnovers. Bordeaux and his french team (Curculosse 23pts, Bigote 18pts,5ass; Preira 17pts, 4rbs) did great but like against Antibes they ended too short. Anthony Kent's comeback is expected to densify the paint and avoid a difficult season ending.
Longwy 79-82 Fos
Tight game but the provencals secured the win with a better accuracy (45% vs 58%). Longwy counted on its habitual weapons: Godin (13pts, 3rbs, 4to, 9ass), Coombs (11pts 5/7, 5rbs) or Alao (23pts). But Wallace, Cisse and Toto were in a tremendous day as they all posted at least 20 ranking points.
Challans 65-72 Golbey-Epinal
The locals had some troubles to find the target (24/64). Bach and Herard are deeply involved into that surprising result with 20pts (7/10), 5rbs and 14pts (7/10), 5rbs, 3stl, 4ass.
Boulogne 96-71 Angers
The maritims made a serious game despite the pressure coming from the bottom teams. Everoby took an active part in this win. Pierre-Joseph was almost perfect (17pts 5/9, 5rbs, 2stl, 4ass) while 6 players scored above 10pts. From the 3pts line, the percentage is unbelievable (15/26) just like the 28 assists (Sahraoui 11ass).
Toulouges 90-103 Lievin
Against Toulouges' forgotten defense, Lievin took the opportunity to secure a bit more its future. 7 players scored at least 10 points and Anthony Jackson ended close to a triple-double (20pts, 12rbs, 6to, 7ass). M'Balla answered (18pts, 16rbs, 4ass) but the catalan problem is well-known: 88.77 points allowed per game!
Feurs 65-74 Lille
Lille also is breathing after this second win in a row. An important result that also rejects Feurs 5 wins behind the nordists. Feurs had to cope with its rebounding weakness (21 vs 39) and a short roster with Periac and Aultman's illnesses. Nesmith made the biggest part of the job (20pts, 5rbs) with Racon (15pts 4/5) and Defoe's (15pts, 6rbs) help.
Centre Federal 69-66 Andrezieux
No offense to the visitors but this game was the one to bookmark for the CFBB to avoid a blank season. Done. Christophe Leonard (198-F-90) made a terrific yard: 23pts (9/14), 10rbs, 3stl, 3ass.
Saint-Chamond 61-50 Mulhouse
When the second best defensive team (71.4papg) faces the third worst offensive competitor (67.23ppg), the score is often skinny and favourable to the defensively strong team. In the Loire, Mulhouse faced that situation and netted only 50pts at 30% (20/60) and lost 23 balls. Once more it is Obouh-Fegue (11pts 5/7, 7rbs) who did his best.
Day 30 preplayed Game
Angers 104-66 Toulouges
One and only positive thing for Toulouges is Philippe Papiyon's (1988) performance (16pts 8/12, 11rbs). Angers scored 157 ranking points! The best mark goes to Samuel Maleyran (29rkg - 16pts 4/4 3pts, 4rbs, 3stl, 7ass). The nine local players each spent round 20 minutes on court, a real coaching dream for Mickael Hay.
Copyright 1998-2007 Eurobasket Inc.
ProB: The positions after Day 24
The main point of the two last ProB days is the tightening on top of the league. Bourg, Rouen and Nanterre lost at least once and share place 1. Also, Limoges went undefeated and is only one game behind the decisive first spot. Moreover St-Etienne, Poitiers and Nantes follow two games behind the top. Even Aix stays only three games behind! In the bottom the best move is for Le Portel. With two victories, the greens take a one win advantage over St-Vallier and join
Chalons and St-Quentin at place 14.
Day 23 Results:
Nantes 80-78 Besancon
St-Vallier 97-75 Nanterre
St-Etienne 91-85 Chalons
Quimper 87-83 Bourg
Aix-Maurienne 83-69 St-Quentin
Boulazac 68-65 Brest
Poitiers 100-76 Reims
Rouen 63-73 Le Portel
Limoges 74-58 Evreux
MVP: Malick Badiane (211-F/C-84): 18pts (80%), 13rbs, 3blk
Day 24 Results:
Nanterre 87-82 St-Etienne
Chalons 69-60 Quimper
Reims 56-72 Limoges
Bourg 74-75 Rouen
Besancon 73-71 Aix-Maurienne
Le Portel 89-76 Poitiers
St-Quentin 72-65 St-Vallier
Evreux 87-66 Boulazac
Brest 76-60 Nantes
MVP: Peter Mulligan (197-F/G-82, college: Manhattan): 17pts, 9rbs, 10ass, 2stl, 6to
Among the keys of those results, we can note that Bourg lost its first place but had to play without Cedric Melicie (sprain). The top game Bourg-Rouen went one way during a long time (+17 for Bourg in the 3rd QT). But the visitors strenghten their defense and came back in the game. Darnell Williams nailed the decisive FTs. Limoges seems on the rise, they won a fourth game in a row in Reims with Lukovski at a better level: 11.5ppg, 6apg on this streak. Le Portel acclimatized to ProB with 3 impressive wins in a row. Jermaine Bucknor lifts the team: 19.33ppg (55.5%), 6rpg in 3 games.
Copyright 1998-2007 Eurobasket Inc.
Player of the Week! Antonio Graves of Pau-Orthez
Antonio Graves (190-G-85, college: Pittsburgh) of Pau-Orthez is Eurobasket's France Pro A Player of the Week for the second time! Graves went off scoring 40 very
important points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in a one-point road victory
over 1st place ASVEL. He also scored 7 of the last 9 points and hit
the game winning free throw with 5sec left to put Pau back in playoff
contention. Graves had an evaluation of 38 and his 40pts sets a
season high for points in a single game. He scored the 40pts on 12 of
19 shooting from the field, 3 of 5 from the 3pt line, and 13 of 15
from the free throw line. Graves is averaging 22.5ppg and 3apg in 7
games this season and in the month of February he averaged 26.5ppg and
should be a contender for player of the month.
Honorable Mention
Antywane Robinson (203-F-84, agency: Priority Sports, college: Temple) of Pau-Orthez had an outstanding game in a road win over 1st place Nancy. Robinson scored 20pts while shooting 6 of 7
from the 3pt line and some very important baskets at critical points
in the game.
Robert Conley (198-G/F-77, college: Clayton St.) took over for ASVEL and almost led them to a win over
Pau, but fell just short. Conley got in foul trouble early but
bounced back to score 24pts, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Copyright 1998-2007 Eurobasket Inc.
NM1 Day 22: The top 3 travels well
For the first time since a few weeks, the leaders remained strong. All collected bright wins on the road. Among the other results we can note that Bordeaux ended its losing streak with a win inAndrezieux. This is quite a good move for Davis' boys as Feurs and Longwy clinched an eighth win. Now, Mulhouse is really in danger again after its home loss against Boulogne.
Angers 81-87 Charleville
The top game of the week between the team on the rise and the leader. Rajnak was at his best (23pts, 6rbs) and the game tight. But in the final minute, coach Hay collected a technical foul and Charleville took advantage of those extra points to secure its top spot. The leader was especially efficient at the FTs (26/30) like Minet (12pts 10/12FT, 9rbs, 2stl, 5ass).
Lievin 71-77 Antibes
Jump start by the azureans which were leading by 19pts at halftime (28-47). Despite some difficulties afterwards, Mollinari (22pts, 3rbs, 4stl, 5ass) and Cornett (11pts, 12rbs) led their team to a precious win.
Golbey-Epinal 79-84 Blois
Big win for Blois in the final minutes with incisive Blot (32pts, 4rbs, 3stl) and Brazil (25pts, 3rbs). The leaders handled quite better the huge foul trouble over this game unlike Caskill (26pts, 10rbs, 5fo) and Co. But for the upcoming games, Blois will lose Blot against Andrezieux and Orr for the same week-end but also for two more. Against the GET, the center collected a 4th personnal technical foul which led him to this huge suspension.
Andrezieux 56-80 Bordeaux
The girondins join a group of team with a tie balance (11-11) that remain far but not out of reach of Longwy's or Feurs' comeback. The victory was necessary against the already condemned liguerians. If Mathieu Bigote didn't shake (23pts 4/4 3pts, 3rbs, 3stl), Anthony Kent secured the paint (12pts, 14rbs), this was too much for Andrezieux.
Lille 71-78 Challans
Between those two strong teams of the league, the best ranked kept its status with polyvalent players like Wagner (11pts 4/5, 6rbs, 7ass), Geay (13pts, 3rbs, 3ass), Boutry (12pts, 5rbs, 3stl) or Judith (13pts, 8rbs, 7to, 6ass). On the other side, Malet had the same efficiency (17pts, 6rbs, 8ass) but Lille's accuarcy is a deep problem. Over the season, the nordists do not reach 50% at 2pts (48.2%), flirt just above the 30% line at 6.25m (31.3%) and are totally desperate at the FT line (60.6%). Against Challans, the nordists shot at 35%!!
Fos 75-55 Centre Federal
Quite expected, this result will at least provide some confidance to the provencals. Dia took advantage of the situation with 23pts, 4rbs and 3blk.
Toulouges 97-113 Longwy
Defense wasn't the main word in Toulouges, the two teams being in the bottom of the defensive rankings. After this offensive festival Toulouges is the worst D of the league (88.0papg) and Longwy, the 15th with 80.3papg . Ragauskas (26pts 8/12 3pts) and as usual, Altier (23pts 10/13, 11rbs, 5ass) made a brilliant game but Longwy found even more efficient arguments. The N°01 was Jonathan Godin (184-G-82) who posted 29pts 5/6 3pts plus 4rbs and 3ass but Traore has to be mentionned once more: 13pts, 8rbs, 3stl, 6ass! For the catalans, the situation is critical, Mulhouse being 5 wins ahead...
Mulhouse 57-74 Boulogne
...but only two wins ahead Feurs and Longwy, Mulhouse desperately needed a win to remain safe. But against Boulogne, the alsatians only shot at 37%. If Adell is expected for the next game, their offensive power remain bad (70.8ppg) and will need to be improved to handle the end of the season. For Boulogne, the victory drives them to join the group of teams with a tie balance. Fabien Calvez was the plus element (13pts, 4rbs, 9ass) in addition to Kante's presence in the paint (22pts 8/11).
Feurs 70-63 Saint-Chamond
Surprise in the Loire, where Feurs confirmed its good shape, especially Herve Jalce (21pts, 7rbs, 2stl, 2blk). The forezians are undefeated in their arena in 2008 and only tolerated 64pts to their opponents over those victories. St-Chamond remained in those standarts with a negative ass/to ratio (-6) that Feurs raised up to +5.
Copyright 1998-2007 Eurobasket Inc.
|
