Contested under the eyes of the famous actor Michael Douglas, this poster between monacoleader of Betclic Eliteand Boulogne-Levallois, his runner-up, kept all his promises at the Marcel-Cerdan sports hall. It is ultimately the more experienced of the two teams, namely the Roca-Teamwho left Hauts-de-Seine with the victory, after extra time (95-82)!
A success that the teammates of the excellent Elie Okobo (28 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists) went for forceps, those who were able to resist a Victor Wembanyama true to form (27 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals) to gradually overthrow the Met 92, yet in the lead for almost all of this meeting. Before exploding quite logically in front of the Monegasque assaults in the five minutes of extra time…
The men of Vincent Collet will thus be able to feed some regrets, because they had started this match perfectly (26-13 after a quarter-time), taking advantage of the clumsiness of Monaco and a very good “Wemby”, well supported by Tremont Waters.
The players of Sasa Obradovictoo expensive with the ball, then tried to pick up in the next two periods, but their inability to convert shots from afar, coupled with the domination of Victor Wembanyama on the Ile-de-France side, prevented them from coming back into contact and dropping below ten difference points.
Until this fourth quarter, which saw Elie Okobo and his teammates no longer lose the ball and continue to go on the free throw line, while converting a few welcome baskets at 3-pts. Comfortable under pressure, thanks to Okobo, but also mike james, Donatas Motiejunas, Yoan Makoundou or Matthew Strazelthe Roca Team kept nibbling away at their delay, while “Wemby” hardly weighed any more in attack because of the opposing defense.
Despite Tremont Waters and Hugo Besson, Boulogne-Levallois was forced to go into extra time, where the experience of the Monegasque armada made all the difference on each side of the field: 19-6 in five minutes, for a 95-82 finish! This is the second defeat in a row for the Mets 92, now 3rd in Betclic Élite, while Monaco wins a fourth victory in a row and consolidates its position as leader of the French championship.
Photo credit: Hervé Bellenger
