EUROCUPE 2024/25 – At the end of a stifling and frustrating end to the match, JL Bourg lost against Venice (99-102). The Bressans suffered a nightmarish third quarter and missed a great opportunity to settle more comfortably in the top 6 of their group.
Winners of Venice in the first leg, the Bressans found the Italians with a great opportunity to move further into the top 6 of their group. 4th with 6 victories for 5 defeats, JL Bourg had, moreover, been full of confidence a few days earlier with a thunderous success on the grounds of Cholet. Venice, for its part, had an opposite record in the EuroCup (5-6) but remained on three victories in four matches in the competition.
McGruder does long distance damage
The points quickly climbed in the meeting. No warm-up time, both teams found success very early on, in two different sectors. While Venice began to draw long distance, the JL responded inside thanks to the aggressiveness of Jordan Usher. With 8 points in 13 minutes, the winger responded to this Italian external address. After ten minutes, the score already showed 33 units for the hosts, 31 for the visitors. And if the players of Frédéric Fauthoux closed ranks defensively during the second quarter, that did not prevent Reyer from finding the target.
There was always a response from Venice, like this 3 points rendered by Rodney McGruder has Maxime Courby at the start of the second quarter. Then came the moment of the young Wilson Jacques. 4 points and an interception later, he put the JL back on track (44-38). Despite a few avoidable mistakes, his first in the Euro Cup was successful. But the differential was quickly reduced to zero before tipping in favor of the opponents. In question, always this address behind the arc. It’s simple, Venice had missed more free throws (10/14) than three points (8/11) in the first period with five winning shots to be credited to McGruder alone. With a poorly negotiated last possession, the Italians nevertheless allowed Nelson to equalize at the buzzer before the break (56-56).
JL Bourg gets lost in the third quarter
Returning from the locker room was catastrophic for JL Bourg. Despite a point scratched on a technical fault, the Bressans were unable to find solutions in the game. Mfiondu Kabengelewho had started a project in the Bresse racket in the first period, resumed the work. The gap thus climbed to +12 for Venice (57-69) while success still eluded the hosts despite open shots. The Italian run continued, again and again, alone Kevin Kokila having added a point on the line at 2′30 of the last quarter. Fauthoux’s downtime changed nothing before a brief burst of prideHugo Benitez. But 9 points, that’s all that JL Bourg will have scored in these ten minutes, now relegated to 18 lengths.
The 4th quarter had nothing to do with the previous one. Jordan Usher (24 points) got the machine back on track and the Bresse defense positioned itself on all trajectories. With a 15-1 run the JL came back to two short possessions. Kabengele stopped the Italian hemorrhage but Venice very quickly in the penalty, the JL grabbed a few free throws. Then Maksim Salach sent two long-distance arrows and ignited the Ekinox by putting his people back in control (89-88). The Bressans thought they had done the hardest part but dominated in the interior sector (26 points for Kabengele), took on a new shine in the last minutes, irrecoverable.
