French League Quarterfinals, Game 2: May 23-24, 2008
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Sluc Nancy, Asvel Basket and Le Mans advanced to the French League semifinals by sweeping their respective best-of-three quarterfinal series against Vichy, Hyeres-Toulon and Cholet. Meanwhile, Chorale Roanne and Le Havre are tied at 1-1 and face each other in Game 3 on Wednesday. Sluc Nancy became the first team to advance to the semifinals by edging Vichy 64-69 on the road on Friday. Jeff Greer led the winners with 14 points. Victor Samnick and Cyril Julian each added 12, Zab Dowdell had 11 while Ricardo Greer got 10 for Nancy. Curtis Shumpert had 18 points for Vichy. Also on Thursday, Le Havre thrashed defending champion Chorale Roanne 100-70 to force Game 3 behind 28 points from T.J. Thompson. Le Mans made it to the next round by topping Cholet 65-74 on the road on Friday. Luke Bogdanovic paced the winners with 18 points, Nicolas Batum added 13 while Sam Clancy had 10 for Le Mans. Claude Marquis had 20 points for Cholet. Last but not least, Asvel edged Hyeres-Toulon 90-95 on the road to reach the semifinals behind 29 points from Robert Conley. Lamayn Wilson added 19, Uche Nsonwu had 14 while Laurent Foirest got 13 for Asvel. Austin Nichols had 24 points for Toulon.
Pape Amagou followed a jumper with a three-pointer to give Nancy an early lead at 7-12. The Greer brothers and free throws by Dowdell helped Nancy to keep a 21-23 edge after 10 minutes. Vichy used a 9-2 run to get a 30-25 edge midway through the second quarter, but Samnick stepped up with 7 unanswered points. A layup by Jeff Greer allowed Nancy to keep a 33-34 edge at halftime. Nothing changed after the break, as Vichy stayed strong in defense and also controlled the game tempo. Even with that, an unstoppable Jeff Greer kept Nancy ahead, 52-53, after 30 minutes. Dowdell and Cyril Julian fueled a 0-6 run that gave Nancy a 56-62 edge with 5 minutes to go. Vichy managed to get within 64-67 but free throws by Dowdell sealed the outcome.
Le Havre simply rolled in the first half against Chorale Roanne, scoring as many as 37 points in the second quarter to break the game open, 61-26, at the break. Chorale failed to rally in the second half. Thompson paced the winners with 28 points, Marcellus Sommerville added 18, Ali Traore had 13, John Cox got 12 while Fabien Causeur contributed 10 for Le Havre. Mohamed Kone had 15 points for Roanne while Derrick Byars added 12 for the guests, whose star forward Marc Salyers was limited to just 4 points.
Cholet led 13-11 after 10 minutes but Le Mans just rolled in the second quarter. Bogdanovic and Batum each had 5 points in an 1-10 run that gave Le Mans a 18-27 lead after 16 minutes. Team effort, an outstanding Antoine Diot and a final basket by Alain Koffi made it a 16-point game, 24-40, at halftime. Le Mans still led 36-50 midway through the third quarter, but Cholet was not done. Marquis fueled the hosts' comeback to bring Cholet within 51-56. Limonad and Nebojsa Bogavac struck from downtown, while a three-point play by Batum sealed the outcome, 57-67, with less than 3 minutes to go.
Toulon opened the game with a 15-3 run but Aymeric Jeanneau brought the guests back to life, 20-13, after 10 minutes. A 0-9 run that Nsonwu capped with a layup completed the guests' comeback, 20-22, early in the second quarter. Toulon answered with an 11-0 run that allowed the hosts to regain a double-digit margin, 45-34, at halftime. A three-pointer by Conley ignited Asvel's second and definitive comeback, as it started a game-breaking 10-32 run that Foirest capped with free throws for a 60-69 edge after 30 minutes. Toulon did not recover, as Asvel kept a safe edge all the way until the final buzzer.
| Quarterfinal Playoffs, best of 3 games |
| Record | Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | | 2 | Le Mans (1) | 82 | 74 | x | | 0 | Cholet (8) | 62 | 65 | x | | 1 | Roanne (4) | 94 | 70 | May 28 | | 1 | Le Havre (5) | 72 | 100 | - | | 2 | Nancy (2) | 81 | 69 | x | | 0 | Vichy (7) | 43 | 64 | x | | 2 | Asvel Basket (3) | 92 | 95 | x | | 0 | Hyeres Toulon (6) | 72 | 90 | x |
| Quarterfinal games | | Game 1 | Le Mans vs. Cholet | 82-62 | May 21 | | Game 1 | Nancy vs. Vichy | 81-43 | May 20 | | Game 1 | Asvel Basket vs. Hyeres Toulon | 92-72 | May 21 | | Game 1 | Roanne vs. Le Havre | 94-72 | May 20 | | Game 2 | Cholet vs. Le Mans | 65-74 | May 24 | | Game 2 | Vichy vs. Nancy | 64-69 | May 23 | | Game 2 | Hyeres Toulon vs. Asvel Basket | 90-95 | May 24 | | Game 2 | Le Havre vs. Roanne | 100-70 | May 23 | | Game 3 | Roanne vs. Le Havre | - | May 28 |
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