French League semifinals, Game 1: June 2, 2012 - France

May 25, 2013

French League semifinals, Game 1: June 2, 2012

Taylor Rochestie - Le Mans (photo msb.fr)

Chalon-sur-Saone and Le Mans won the openers of their respective French League semifinal series by downing Orleans 70-65 and Cholet Basket 83-78. Chalon’s game against Orleans was balanced in the beginning with the teams exchanging leads and the score tied at 19-19 after 10 minutes. Marc-Antoine Pellin from downtown gave a 25-34 margin to the guests in the second quarter, but a 6-0 final run for the home team cut the margin to 31-34 at halftime. A three-point-play by Amara Sy gave a 34-43 advantage to Orleans, but late in the quarter Blake Schilb capped a 15-2 run with a three for a 49-45 Chalon lead. Early in the fourth quarter Brian Greene put Orleans in front 50-55. Malcom Delaney took the lead for good at 57-55 and Chalon never looked back. Nicolas Long scored 12 points to lead Chalon and Alade Aminu, Schilb and Tchicamboud added 11 each. Sy netted 17, Greene 14 and Banks 11 for Orleans. Le Mans took an 83-78 success over Cholet. Marcellus Sommerville led the winners with 21 points, JP Batista netted 16, Taylor Rochestie 14, Charles Khaudi 12 and Alex Acker 10. Cholet got 16 points apiece from Fabien Causeur and William Gradit, DeMarcus Nelson scored 11 and Patrick Christopher 10. Late in the first quarter, Causeur broke the balance and gave a 15-19 lead to Cholet, which Christopher increased to 20-28 at the midway point of the second quarter. The guests maintained at halftime of 34-40 margin after Taylor beat the buzzer from mid range. Acker tied the game at 45-45 and Batista gave a 52-51 advantage to the home team before Gradit from the foul line made it 59-61 at the end of the third quarter. Gradit increased the Cholet lead to 61-68 early in the fourth quarter, but Travon Bryant from downtown capped a 13-4 run to give the lead to Le Mans, 74-72 with three minutes in the game. Khaudi raised the difference to 79-72 and Taylor sealed the win for Le Mans from the line.

Record	Team	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
1	Le Mans (4)	83	June 6	*June 8
0	Cholet (8)	78	-	-
1	Chalon/Saône (2)	70	June 5	*June 8
0	Orléans (3)	65	-	-

Semifinals Playoffs round games
Game 1	Le Mans vs. Cholet	83-78	June 2
Game 1	Chalon/Saône vs. Orléans	70-65	June 1
Game 2	Cholet vs. Le Mans	0-0	June 6
Game 2	Orléans vs. Chalon/Saône	0-0	June 5
Game 3	Le Mans vs. Cholet	0-0	*June 8
Game 3	Chalon/Saône vs. Orléans	0-0	*June 8