Monaco secured a victory against Gravelines this Saturday (77-89) and strengthened its position as the leader of Betclic Elite. Meanwhile, Nanterre temporarily climbed to second place after a clear win against Le Portel (59-90).
Surprised by Nancy the previous week, Roca Team resumed its winning ways in Betclic Elite. Playing in Gravelines without injured players Mike James, Nikola Mirotic, and last-minute absence Daniel Theis, Monaco only started pulling ahead at the beginning of the second quarter. They held an eight-point lead at halftime (37-49) and extended it to 14 points in the second half. Matthew Strazel played a key role in Monaco’s success with 13 points and 11 assists. The top scorer of the match, Elie Okobo (Monaco) with 18 points, outperformed Dunkerquois, who couldn’t rely on Edon Maxhuni’s 15 points. Despite a poor three-point shooting performance (3/21), Monaco managed to withstand their opponent’s comeback at the end of the third quarter. With 35 defensive rebounds, Monaco dominated under the basket to outmatch Gravelines.
Nanterre faced no hurdles in defeating the bottom-ranked team, Le Portel (0 victories) by a large margin (59-90). Donta Scott’s 21 points (5/6 three-pointers) led his team to a 17th win this season. Despite efforts from Christopher Ebunangombe (16 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds), Gregory Lee (14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists), and Lucas Fischer (12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists) on the opposing side, Nanterre already had a 19-point lead at halftime. Nanterre continued to widen the gap in the second half. Their upcoming match against Saint-Quentin (15th) is expected to lead to a third consecutive victory.
For Strasbourg, hosting Cholet was not a walk in the park. After four consecutive losses (across all competitions), the Alsacians were eager to solidify their fourth place. Marcus Keene (21 points) and Mike Davis Jr (17 points) guided the SIG in the second and third quarters, taking advantage of Cholet’s poor shooting accuracy. Despite Nathan De Sousa’s injury, CB managed to come within two points in the final quarter (86-84). Noah Locke (17 points, 5/9 three-pointers) almost pulled off a comeback, but a shot from Louis Labeyrie (8 points, 12 rebounds) ended the suspense. In other Saturday matches, Chalon defeated Saint-Quentin (65-86) to maintain their 9th position, still in the running for the play-in. Le Mans triumphed over Boulazac (108-94), despite the duo of Robineau-Warner scoring 59 points.
