Cholet easily beat Le Portel this Saturday (80-65) and remains leader after 9 days of Betclic Elite. Despite some scares at the end, JL Bourg won in Chalon-sur-Saône.
Cholet, leader of the Elite basketball team, easily disposed of Portel (80-65) for its reunion with its public after two away matches, where Bourg-en-Bresse won again, Saturday on the parquet of Chalon-sur-Saône (93-86) during the 9th day. After two away successes, the Choletais continued their excellent momentum at La Meilleraie to regain a victory in advance (7 successes for 1 defeat), with the same number of matches, over Paris and Asvel (6/2) who play Sunday.
They immediately took the lead (26-12 at the end of the first quarter), driven by Jamuni McNeace (16 pts, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in 20 minutes) and the double-double of Bastien Vautier (10 pts and 13 rebounds). Bourg-en-Bresse and Saint-Quentin follow behind (6 v/3 d). The Bressans are definitely comfortable away from their bases: they won for the fifth time in as many trips. The players of Frédéric Fauthoux, who will make his debut as coach of the Blues next week during two qualifying matches for Euro-2025, however, were scared until the end in a team room bottom of the table. While they had a 14-length lead at the start of the last quarter, they let the Elan come back to one possession 1 min 30 sec from the end (85-83).
Saint-Quentin wins again
But the American leader Xavier Castaneda (30 pts including 4/8 at 3 pts) had the hot hand: a basket with the board, off-center and off-balance at the end of the possession, then another in suspension and 30 seconds later the affair was folded (89-83). Saint-Quentin also won away, in Dijon (91-85) after two heavy defeats against Paris at home (97-65) and in Tenerife (96-57) in the Champions League.
The SQBB had a 21-point lead in the third quarter but let the JDA come back to four lengths with just over two minutes remaining (84-80). He was then able to count on the experience of former NBA player Jerome Robinson (20 pts, 9/9 free throws). The Limougeauds believed they had their first success of the season away from home, in Nancy (86-90), with two free throws coming 1 sec 4/10 from the siren (75-75). But Alexandre Chassang missed his two attempts, offering Shevon Thompson's Sluc (27 pts and 10 rebounds) an extension which he won to join his opponent in 10th place (4 v./5 l).
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