An unbreathable match | GIS Strasbourg

For the 13th day of the U21 Championship, the team coached by Patrice Koenig faced JDA Dijon away. A match which determined 4th and 5th place in the championship. At the end of an unbreathable match, Patrice Koenig's Espoirs won with a score of 83 to 86.

The match clock opened with a three-point opponent. However, Hugo Bonaton slammed a big dunk to indicate to the opponent that he had not come to laugh (3-2, 1'30). The veteran winger still scored in the paint despite the strong Dijon defense (3-4, 2'50). Our Hopes had difficulty finding themselves in attack, the opponents cut each passing line. Dijon's defense was very toxic, however Japhet Moupadele and Harold Tchoua carried the team through this complicated period (16-10, 8'). The gap widened little by little, and the team coached by Patrice Koenig could not find the solution to cope (22-13, 9'30). Quite a complicated quarter for our young SIGmen. (22-15, 10').

The hope that the players had diminished at the same time as the opponents widened the gap (27-19, 12'). Maxence Lemoine created chances for his teammates on the recovery play (35-23, 13'). Maxence Lemoine took things in hand, he shifted thanks to his footwork to score three points (35-26, 15'). The trend was reversed, our players regained the mental advantage. The recovery game worked once again on a baseball pass for Erwan Merlin who finished with a double pass without adversity (35-29, 15'). Our players offered an all-terrain zone, which caused the opponent to panic (36-31, 16'). Sniper Maxence Lemoine continued to carry his team, whether with his points or his incredible passes (36-34, 17'). A precious opportunity, that's what Harold Tchoua obtained by taking this offensive rebound (38-36, 18'). The collective game began to return to the Strasbourg side with a superb creation of space for Hugo Bonaton from Samuel Fontanelle (42-39, 19th). Free throws were a precious commodity for our young players, they understood it well with a percentage of 57%. At the end of the first half we found our Hopes with more solutions than at the start of the match. (46-41, 20')

Returning from the locker room, captain Harold Tchoua took responsibility with a header to start the quarter (50-43, 21'). Strasbourg's energy increased tenfold, allowing our youngsters to create opportunities to take the lead in 3 minutes of play (54-56, 24'). A slow period for our two teams who went blow for blow (56-56, 25'). The teams took turns choking each other on offense, the only way for them to score was free throws (62-59, 29').

At the start of the last quarter, our Espoirs regained the advantage (64-66, 31'). The gap widened little by little in favor of our Espoirs (68-73, 35'). With three players with more than 10 points (Hugo, Harold, Erwan), our Strasbourg residents were well in the match. We could note this incredible passing game between Hugo Bonaton and Harold Tchoua (72-78, 37'25). The match became more and more intense between the two teams, the public woke up (76-82, 39'). The clock showed one minute and the teams were one point apart (81-82, 39'). For 50 seconds, no player had scored, but Maxence on the free throw line was flawless (81-84). Maxence Lemoine carried his team to victory by hitting five free throws in the last twenty seconds (83-86, 39'57). At the end of an unbearable match, our players won with a score of 83 to 86.