a second loss in a row at home for ADA Blois against Pau-Lacq-Orthez after an ultra-tight match

ADA Blois: 102
Pau-Lacq-Orthez: 105

He was duly celebrated by 2,700 spectators to celebrate a decade of success in Loir-et-Cher and his players were also at the party.

For his return to Blois, Mickaël Hay was honored and took over everything, despite himself. And his Élan Béarnais, who had been skating since the beginning of October (six losses for a single success), came to glean a sixth victory on the leader's floor after the extension of an unbreathable match, marked by 41 changes of leaders at the lead!

A crooked start to the match…

Against their former emblematic coach, David Morabito's squad nevertheless produced a solid performance, showing heart, but ended up losing a second time in a row at home after the defeat during the “Centrico” against Orléans.

The visitors also took the Blésois cold (0-11, 3^e), pushing their technician to quickly stop the game: “We completely got through it, without rhythm, without energy and without intensityhe said afterwards. But we were able to quickly correct the situation. » The Loir-et-Chériens indeed increased the pace in defense and relied on their captain Jacques Alingue and their shooter Timothé Vergiat (9 points at the end of the first quarter) to get back together (17-17, 7^e) and even go ahead (23-21, 10^e).

… Then an unbreathable mano a mano

The mano a mano then continued but the Loir-et-Chériens, carried by a dazzling Flo Thamba (12 points and 3 rebounds at half-time), were able to maintain their two-point advantage before returning to the locker room (47- 45, 20^e) against the Palois in the match thanks to its fireworks Ledlum and Pinault (25 and 28 this evening).

The rest of the game was the same: ultra-tight until the end. Within rifle range (71-68, 30^e), Mickael Hay's men quickly returned with Ledlum (71-73, 32^e) before Pinault caught fire (77-82, 36^e). But Timothé Vergiat, who had not scored since the end of the first quarter, came out of his box with two winners, before Hieu-Courtois thought to offer victory to his team with a long distance (87-84, 38^e) then a floater 20 seconds from time (89-86). Just think… Because Ledlum put a classy winner under high pressure to send everyone into overtime.

“With more experience and less naivety…”

A crazy extension with a series of winners – Sherrill for the EBPLO and Chambers for the ADA (96-96, 40^e + 3) – who finally smiled on the visitors against the Blésois who did not take the defensive rebounds against a Ledlum who was definitely on fire and perfect surface fox to conclude (102-105, 40^e + 5) !

“I think that with more experience and less naivety, we can take this match this Saturday evening. It’s up to us to move forward”further indicated David Morabito, coach of a team still at the top of the division despite the defeat.

The latter will also specify at the very beginning of the week with which group he will take the road to Finistère to play Tuesday the 16th^es final of the Coupe de France in Quimper, while fatigue accumulates at the same rate as the long trips follow one another. And that the priority match remains the trip to Chartres in the championship next Saturday before the break eagerly awaited by everyone.