Euroleague: Bourges wins its ticket to the Final Six

Tango Bourges Basket qualified for the Euroleague Final Six despite its defeat against Zaragoza (64-73; 75-55 in the first leg) in the second leg of the promotion play-off, and will be the only French club to continue its journey after the elimination of Basket Landes a little earlier on Wednesday.

The Landaises, condemned to the feat after being beaten at home in the first leg (72-68), did not manage to overthrow USK Prague, the club of the captain of the French team Valeriane Ayayi (11 points, 8 rebounds), who won 69-43. Leila Lacan's teammates were already behind at the break (27-22), after a period where they suffered in attack, with a success rate of 25% at two points (6/24), and not much better at long distance (3/11 at 27%, 4/25 in total). Opposite, USK Prague accelerated the pace, inflicting a 21-10 in the third quarter (48-32) before continuing to pull away.

On the Basket Landes side, only Luisa Geiselsoder managed to reach the 10-point mark (9 rebounds) while the American Brionna Jones, already decisive in the first leg for Prague, scored 21 to finish as the top scorer. The adventure will therefore continue for only one French club, Bourges, winner of the competition three times (1997, 1998, 2001).

The TBB, strong from its big win in Spain (75-55), could head into this return match with a little more serenity. Still tied at the start of the last 10 minutes, the Berruyères dropped points in the last quarter but had a big enough lead to finish the match without too many scares, against the teammates of Marie Mané, Zaragoza's top scorer with 15 points.

Tango Bourges Basket will meet Mersin in the quarter-finals of the Final Six, who they had crossed paths with in the first round. The Turkish club, semi-finalist of the last edition and which counts in its ranks the internationals Marine Johannès, Marine Fauthoux and Iliana Rupert, had won during their two confrontations in the autumn. They will now meet again next April.