Basketball: Asvel relapses in Limoges

After an improvement of two successes in all competitions, Asvel and its new coach Gianmarco Pozzecco lost Sunday in Limoges (79-68) during the 10th day of Elite, fruitful for Paris Basket, winner of Blois (72- 65) at the top of the table.

Winners against Strasbourg (91-72) and Kaunas in the Euroleague (91-88) after an initial defeat against Virtus Bologna (87-84) for the debut on the bench of the Italian, who replaced TJ Parker on October 25 , the Villeurbannais miss the opportunity to settle into the leading quartet. Instead of getting on the podium, they slip, with six successes for four losses, at the end of the wagon of eight qualified for the final phase and measure the work remaining to be accomplished on the road to recovery.

After a good first period (35-30 at half-time), they gradually gave in to the fury of the CSP (6th), symbolized by this tap from Alexandre Chassang (14 pts and 8 rebounds in 18 minutes) after a tough battle on the offensive rebound giving them an 11-point lead with just under five minutes remaining (65-54).

After Paris Lee, with two winning shots in a row, had kept Asvel afloat, the other man at the end of the Limougeaude match was Nemanja Nenadic, author of 8 of his 12 points in the last three minutes.

Including a “2 1” (basket with foul, converted by a free throw) definitively knocking out Villeurbanne (77-66) with just over a minute to go. Asvel is now two victories behind Paris, which took advantage of the defeat of Monaco on Saturday (94-86 at Nancy) to return to a header success, and those of Cholet (87-84 at Portel) and from Bourg-en-Bresse (84-81 against Roanne) to take two victories ahead of them.

The Parisians made the difference by inflicting an 18-5 on the Blésois to end the second quarter (49-35 at the end of this period), thanks in particular to three winning shots from Tyson Ward. ADA then came back to seven lengths entering the last minute but TJ Shorts (15 pts and 6 assists) sealed the victory with an inside penetration 52 seconds from the buzzer (72-63) to sanction an opponent’s loss of ball.

Dijon, for its part, won an important match at the bottom of the standings in Strasbourg (81-64): the JDA took a victory ahead of its evening opponent and the relegation zone.