Bourges, a true monument of French basketball (12 times national champion) was eliminated by Tarbes despite its 98-83 victory at the Palais des sports du Prado in the quarter-final second leg of the French championship.
Beaten 87-69 in the first leg, the “Tango”, also three-time Euroleague champions, believed to change this series by returning to -1 over the two matches (98-81) on a “double step” by Alix Duchet (19 pts) 30 seconds from the buzzer. But in an unbreathable finale, the Tarbaises held on and reduced the gap on the throw line.
Three days after its great 89-67 success in Lyon, Basket Landes again outclassed Asvel, reigning champion, on Monday in the quarter-final return (79-64) and will play in the semi-finals.
From the start of the match, the Landeses, third in the regular season, took the Lionesses (6th), weakened by injuries, by the throat, and widened a significant gap (22-7). Their lead grew crescendo as the game progressed, facing an Asvel team unable to respond to the physical and technical challenge of their opponents.
Only Chelsea Mitchell (16 pts in total), Endy Miyem (8 pts) and Alexia Chery (14 pts) survived in this match to forget for David Gauthier’s protégés.
But this burst was not clear enough to halt the forward march of the Landaises who were leading at half-time (40-26).
In the wake of Alexis Peterson in scoring and distribution (18 pts, 6 assists), Basket Landes, crowned in 2021 and qualified for the Coupe de France, put an end to the hopes of Asvel five minutes from the end to bring its lead to 21 units (69-48), from which the Villeurbannaises never recovered.
