Three days before the first leg of the Eurocup semi-final (8:45 pm, at home, against the London Lions), Paris won an easy and large victory against Limoges (101-77) at the Adidas Arena on Saturday during the 26th round of the regular season of Betclic Élite. The capital club temporarily moves to second place in the standings, awaiting the match of Asvel on Sunday (2:30 pm) at home against Gravelines-Dunkerque.
After a small lead at the end of the first quarter (25-19), Paris stepped on the accelerator against Limoges, ranked 13th in the Championship, and went to half-time with a much more comfortable lead (58-38). In the second half, the Parisians were not at all worried and won a 13th consecutive victory (all competitions combined).
Nadir Hifi, who already scored 35 points against Nancy on Wednesday, was the main architect of his team’s victory, with 22 points (9/16 shooting including 4/9 from three points). The Parisian collective also performed well (12 points for Shorts, Herrera, and Malcolm, 11 for Sy, 10 for Kessens). With 10 assists, T.J. Shorts even got himself a double-double. Small consolation for Limoges: the top scorer of the match was in their ranks with Nicolas Lang (23 points).
Ayayi leads Nanterre to victory A few kilometers away, Nanterre, led by Joël Ayayi (26 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists), and fifth in the standings, defeated Bourg-en-Bresse (105-98), ranked fourth. The Bressans suffered this defeat as they will also play a Eurocup semi-final on Tuesday (7 pm) at home against Besiktas Istanbul. On Saturday, they could rely on Jeremy Morgan (23 points).
Boulogne-Levallois, the last place in Betclic Élite, secured their fourth win of the season against Dijon (82-77). Nancy won in Chalon-sur-Saône (74-70) and Le Portel beat Blois (94-89), thanks to Digué Diawara (24 points) and Ivan Février (22 points).
Finally, in the evening, Cholet, led by the duo Neal Sako (20 points) – Tidjane Salaün (18), defeated Saint-Quentin (73-69). Salaün, a great hope for French basketball, freed his team by intercepting the opponents’ overtime ball and then punishing them with a buzzer-beating dunk.
