Promoted to the top flight for the first time in its history in the spring of 2022, Blois is very close to the maintenance dreamed of at the start of the season. The ADA defeated Paris Basketball on Friday evening at the Jeu de Paume (91-79) during the 32nd day of the Championship to win its 13th victory of the season, not without scaring its audience. The evening had started ideally for the Blésois, authors of a thunderous start. A fierce dunk from Amadou Sow on Juhann Begarin gave them a 24-point lead… after six minutes (26-2).
But the euphoria didn’t last and in the wake of Ismaël Kamagaté (19 points, 15 rebounds, 2 blocks), the Parisians started to catch up. Returning to nine lengths on a lay-up from Amar Gegic before the last ten minutes, Will Weaver’s players kept their momentum at the start of the last quarter. Served by Simms in the heart of the defense, Kamagaté brought Paris to a possession of the Blésois (73-70, 33rd).
Paris loses big in the fight for the play-offs
But Sow (21 points, 9 rebounds) broke the Parisian momentum by planting a mid-range shot on the head of the international pivot then stealing the ball from Kyle Allman. Mbaye Ndiaye (19 points, 8 rebounds) and Robert Johnson (18 points, 7 assists) then took over to extinguish the suspense with an award-winning basket very far from the bearded leader (85-74, 37th) and a dunk as a end point for the Senegalese interior (91-79).
Blois temporarily takes two steps ahead of Pau-Orthez and Nancy opposed this Saturday in Béarn. Mickaël Hay’s players have the particular advantage over Pau (two wins) but not over Nancy (two losses). A victory for SLUC would bring them a little closer to maintenance. For its part, Paris lost big by missing the opportunity to come back up to Gravelines, eighth and last qualified in the play-offs, before two last difficult matches (Bourg-en-Bresse and Boulogne-Levallois).
Fos-sur-Mer not yet condemned
Beaten seven times in their last eight matches, Fos-sur-Mer avoided the ax of Pro B this Friday, dominating Cholet (81-78). A victory snatched in the last minute when the Mauges club had returned to the heights thanks to Dominic Artis. The young leader Milan Barbitch then snatched a basket plus the fault in the Cholet defense. If he missed the throw, the former Paris Basketball hopeful caught up by delivering a caviar to Allan Dokossi on the next possession (79-75, 39th).
Tahjere McCall finally delivered the Provençals by snatching the rebound on a free throw deliberately missed by Artis five seconds from the buzzer. The Byers remain red lantern but no longer have their destiny in their hands: a victory for Pau-Orthez on Saturday will send them to Pro B since they do not have the particular advantage against the Palois. Cholet remains sixth but has not yet ensured its qualification in the play-offs.
Finally, in the last poster of the evening, Dijon won in Roanne (88-81), led by 21 points from Gregor Hrovat. The JDA keeps its third place and will follow the results of Asvel and Bourg-en-Bresse this weekend, its two direct competitors to obtain home advantage in the quarter-finals.
Opposite, the Chorale will not play, barring a miracle, the play-offs. His winger Ronald March (26 points) narrowed the gap against Victor Wembanyama in the race for the honorary title of top scorer of the season (21.53 points on average for “Wemby”, 21.37 for March) .
