The seventh day of the Betclic Elite delivered its share of surprises on Saturday.
Bourg-en-Bresse lost for the third time this season in its home arena on Saturday, beaten by Strasbourg (96-89) on Matchday 7 of the Elite basketball championship, while Saint-Quentin won a badly-fought game at Nanterre (102-95).
The JL is having some trouble on its Ekinox floor, as its three defeats at this stage have all been at home, preventing the men from French coach Frédéric Fauthoux (3rd) to put the pressure on the two leading teams, Asvel and Cholet, who meet on Sunday. Already defeated by Aris Salonika in the Eurocup three days ago, Bourg-en-Bresse have suffered another setback against Strasbourgeois, who have won for the third time in a row – their first away from home.
The Alsatians, with four players scoring 10 points or more, including point guard Dominic Artis (21), Edon Maxhuni (19 pts, nine assists) and Vitalis Chikoko (15 pts, 11 rebounds), managed to extend their lead in the final minutes of a long, indecisive game, even taking a 10-point lead. Xavier Castaneda (19 points) tried to keep his team afloat, but to no avail.
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For their part, Saint-Quentin overturned a long-dominant Nanterre side that went down in overtime at home. Paul Lacombe’s team-mates had made a small difference at the end of the first half, and were still leading by 10 points going into the final quarter, thanks in particular to a great performance from American Desi Rodriguez (30 pts, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 39 rating).
But the SQBB melted away the hosts’ lead, helped by Jerome Robinson (28 pts) and Enzo Goudou-Sinha (23 pts), but also by an excellent end to the game from point guard Nolan Traoré, a great French hope, who snatched the equalizer (86-86) synonymous with overtime and recorded a score of 20 points (7/7 free throws, 4 rbds, 3 assists). Saint-Quentin bounced back from defeat at Asvel to claim its fifth win of the season, while Nanterre lost for the fifth time.
Lastly, Le Mans moved into the positive (four wins, three losses), taking it easy against Dijon (98-71) with the help of David DiLeo (27 pts). Sunday’s action continues with Euroleague contenders Paris, Monaco and Asvel. In addition to the top-of-the-table clash between Lyon-Villeurbanne and Cholet (4:30 p.m.), the Roca Team travel to Gravelines-Dunkerque (4:30 p.m.) before Paris hosts Nancy (7:00 p.m.).