Boulazac basket Dordogne held the tall sugared almonds at Limoges

W ithin waiting for Malik Fitts' replacement, whose season ended before it even began, Boulazac arrived at Beaublanc this Friday with Théo Magrit, seven other professional players, and four hopefuls, but without Hugo Robineau or Essomé Miyem (spared due to an ankle sprain). Facing him was a CSP in reconstruction. "The coach (Croatian Dario Gjergja, who led Belgium at Eurobasket ) arrived last week," recalled Alexandre Ménard, the Boulazac coach, before the match. "He brought players he knows, new concepts. They are still sniffing each other out. Everyone has to find their feet."

Limoges' lack of automatisms thus partly allowed the BBD to take the lead in the first quarter (9-13, 6th; 15-19, 9th)... Only to finally be overtaken after ten minutes (20-19). The second quarter was tougher, with the BBD finding themselves twice seven lengths behind (29-22, 13th; 43-36, 19th), to be led 46-41 at halftime. They then managed to stay within two possessions throughout the third quarter (66-64, 30th). Before falling behind, notably because of a 3-pointer from former Boulazcois Vincent Amsellem (80-71, 35th).

However, Thomas Ville's teammates hadn't said their last word: they came back to tie (84-84), before seeing Amsellem (21 points in total, top scorer of the match) and Frank Mason make the decision in the last minute (88-84, 39th; 92-89). Boulazac will therefore play for third place on Sunday, at 2:30 p.m., against Portel. The Northerners, in the opening of the tournament, were beaten by the Spanish team of Murcia (100-70), who will play the final against CSP, Sunday at 5 p.m.

Boulazac markers

Amit Ebo (5 points), Thomas Ville (10), Tony Snell (14), Cyrille Eliezer-Vanerot (4), KJ Williams (14), then Angelo Warner (20), Théo Magrit (11), Ousman Krubally (7) Ali Bathily (4), Bastien Courant and Quentin Bonneau.

Find the full tournament report, reactions and statistics this Monday, September 15