Drafts but winners, the Blues get the job done in Cyprus for the premiere of Fauthoux

No bad surprises for the Blues. Led by Yoan Makoundou (15 pts) and Axel Bouteille (15 pts), the French team won against Cyprus (59-75) this Thursday, in Nicosia, as part of qualifying for Euro 2025. Third victory in three outings for the French, who had already beaten Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina last spring, before the Olympic Games. It was also the first outing of the French team since Paris 2024. Since then, Freddy Fauthoux has succeeded Vincent Collet, who had been in place since 2009. Deprived of NBA and Euroleague players, the new coach was unable to summon only one of the 12 Olympic vice-champions, Andrew Albicy. Wind of freshness. Lots of waste, clumsiness especially from afar (29.2%), but the Blues finally did the job.

The story goes that Fauthoux's first five was made up of Traoré, Mokoka, Makoundou, Dessert and Lang. It was the latter who scored the first tricolor points, an increase, of course. By filling the interior, the Blues started well (2-6), before… paying for their waste (7-6, then 13-9). 7 of 13 Cypriot points for Tigkas. Time out. With such a renewed group and only four sessions, we should not expect miracles… “We are not magicians», warned Fauthoux. Lacking skill, the Blues were more dynamic to lead 15-20 at the end of the first quarter, after an alley-oop concluded by Pansa. Start of the walk? Not really… By wasting ammunition, they gave away the stick (29-25). Draft. The Cypriot zone worked for a while, but France put more intensity and it paid off (29-35, then 31-37 MT). Mokoka scored 6 of the last 10 French points of the first period, during this mini-break. Top scorer bottle with 8 points.

The Makoundou show

Traoré freed himself a little after the restart, Bouteille continued, but Cyprus began to score the three points, Simitzis in the lead (31-39, then 50-49). Everything to do again. Benitez gave the reins back to France (50-51) to end a painful third quarter. The start of the fourth was much less so. And this is thanks to a man, Makoundou, at the oven and at the mill. Two big dunks, a provoked unsportsmanlike performance, from the defense… The interior on loan from Monaco was everywhere (50-64, then 52-66). What an impact! Speaking of impact, Benitez was there too. This time, the gap was made. The French clumsiness allowed Cyprus to hope to return to minus 7 (59-66). Never closer. Bouteille offered himself a three-point action and Traoré, clumsy all evening, drove the last nail in the coffin from long distance (59-72, then 59-76 final score). 10 points for the nugget of Saint-Quentin. Heading for Poitiers now, where France will meet Cyprus on Sunday (5 p.m.).