Orléans Loiret Basket took a serious first step towards qualifying for the ProB Leaders Cup final. Lamine Kébé’s team, despite a huge gap in the second quarter, largely beat Roanne this Tuesday, January 21, 2025 in the semi-final first leg (68-82). We will now have to defend this significant advantage next Tuesday, at home, to hope to play the match for the title, in Caen, on February 16.
Seven minutes in the fog
The Orléanais got back into the game well, first imposing a clear domination inside (7-13, 6th). With a defense in place, the OLB offered transitions and took a comfortable lead after ten minutes (14-23, 10th). Lamine Kébé had, moreover, chosen to balance playing times by entrusting real minutes to hopeful Anthony Wassom.
The small cushion acquired from the start allowed Orléans not to fall too high in the face of the reaction of the Roannais, now much higher on the ground and aggressive. From stolen balls to caused fouls, Bruno Cingala-Mata’s teammates inflicted a scathing 20-0 in seven minutes on OLB (34-23, 17th). The Loiret team finally adapted to the pressure from Roanne and regained momentum before the break. In the wake of a good Rudy Demahis-Ballou, Orléans picked up (40-37, 20th).
-Orléans unfolds after the break
The improvement was confirmed after half-time for Orléans, who had regained all their seriousness in defense. While Lee Moore, hampered by mistakes, remained on the bench for a long time, Rudy Demahis-Ballou took the lead (43-48, 25th). Tomislav Gabric, stifled until then by Maxime Roos, showed up and deceived the defense by often finishing from close range (49-54, 29th).
This time the OLB had taken control of the match and Roanne quickly lowered the flag. The locals, who were playing without the injured Antoine Diot, were in serious difficulty, reflecting their starving free throw skills (20/35, 58%). Facing the Loirétains who remained focused, Roanne limited the score a little thanks to successful winning shots from Terrel Gomez, Michael-Oguine and Bruno Cingala-Mata (with the board!) at the end of the match. But Orléans won 68-82.
