French League Semifinals, Game 3: June 13, 2009 - FRANCE

November 22, 2009

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French League Semifinals, Game 3: June 13, 2009

The single-game French League final will be played between an absolute newcomer and a historic club making its first championship bid in six years after Orleans and Asvel Basket, respectively, took dramatic do-or-die victories in Game 3 of the semifinals on Saturday. Orleans completed a 20-year climb from France's regional divisions to make its first-ever final appearance by stopping mighty Le Mans 66-60 in their third game. Veteran leader Laurent Sciarra had all 8 of his points in the final quarter for the winners and teamed with Adrien Moerman on back-to-back triples to put their team in charge for good. Brian Greene led the winners with 14 points while Moerman had 13 and Anthony Dobbins 11. For Le Mans, Bobby Dixon scored 21 and Dewarick Spencer 15 while David Bluthenthal had 10 rebounds. Asvel Basket, meanwhile, mounted one of the most incredible comebacks in French League history to defeat SLUC Nancy 62-56 and advance to the final. Trailing by 46-56 with 8 minutes left, Asvel finished the game with a 16-0 run in which veteran leader Laurent Foirest scored 8 points, his total for the night. Aymeric Jeanneau, Ali Traore and Eric Campbell had 10 points each to lead the winners, while Amara Sy pulled down 12 rebounds. Jeff Greer had 14 points for Nancy. Lamayne Wilson added 13 and 9 rebounds, while Akin Akingbala scored 10 before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

There were three lead changes and a tie in the first quarter before Nancy, put together a 0-10 run in which the Greer brothers, Ricardo and Jeff, scored all the points. Ricardo Greer's put-back of an offensive rebound made it 13-20 before a triple by Nebojsa Bogavac cut the difference to 16-21 in favor of the visitors after 10 minutes. J.R. Reynolds got Asvel as close as 18-21 before three-point plays by Jeff Greer and Stephen Brun stretched the lead near double digits, 18-27, for Nancy. Asvel's defense took over then, allowing only a dunk for 6 minutes during a 10-2 run in which Eric Campbell had 4 points to make it 28-29. Lamayn Wilson ended Nancy's silence with a big triple, but Ben Dewar matched it for a 31-32 scoreboard at halftime. After the break, despite back-to-back dunks for Akin Akingbala of Nancy, Ali Traore battled to keep Asvel within 34-38. Nancy reacted with back-to-back triples from Wilson and Jeff Greer plus a Steed Tchicamboud driving layup for a double-digit advantage, 37-47. Asvel needed to react, and did, following Aymeric Jeanneau on a five-point surge, although Wilson and John Cox answered to keep Nancy in charge, 43-52, after three quarters. Cox and Wilson upped the difference to 46-56 early in the fourth, and after a quiet couple of minutes, Asvel made its move, with veterans Jeanneau and Laurent Foirest each striking from long-distance before the ladder added an inside basket at 54-56 with 5 minutes left. The incredible turnaroun was consumated when Foirest unleashed a go-ahead triple at 57-56 to which Chevon Troutman and Amara Sy added a inside baskets for Asvel, whose defense was in the process of stopping Nancy cold for 8 minutes and a 16-0 run to finish the semis in dramatic style!

The teams matched each other through three early ties until Adrien Moerman hit 5 points in a row and Brian Greene added a triple good for a 15-7 Orleans lead. Dewarick Spencer and Joao Paulo Batista answered with the next 7 points for Le Mans, but Orleans was able to cling to a 17-16 advantage after 10 minutes. Bobby Dixon fired Le Mans in front on his team's first shot of the second quarter, which were the only points scored for almost 4 minutes until Orleans took the lead back on inside baskets by Ryvon Covile and Cedrick Banks. Alain Koffi and Covile exchanged points before Spencer's 4 free throws put Le Mans ahead again and a triple by David Bluthenthal ended a 0-8 run by extending the visitors' advantage to 23-28 at halftime. Dixon added to the Le Mans run on the first shot after the break, but Greene quickly responded with a triple and free throws to bring Orleans within 28-30. Koffi and Spencer again lifted Le Mans to safety at 28-36. Greene kept Orleans battling with a triple, to which Anthony Dobbins and Terence Dials added inside baskets for a one-point game again, 35-36. By the time Greene completed a three-point play and Dobbins scored inside, Orleans had its first lead in over 10 minutes, 44-42, at the end of three quarters. After a triple by Dobbins raised the difference to 47-42, a defensive final quarter favored Orleans. Koffi kept Le Mans as close as 49-46 with 4 minutes left, but that's when the hosts pushed themselves over the hump with Moerman and Laurent Sciarra launching triples back-to-back that suddenly had Orleans up 55-46. Spencer and Dixon quickly cut it to 56-51, but Le Mans was forced to foul and Sciarra was good on 2 of 2 to make it 59-51. Dixon hit another triple at 59-54 just before the final minute. Sciarra's free throws and Dixon's triple kept Le Mans as close as 62-59 before Orleans made the best of its many trips to the foul line and secured an historic 66-60 victory for the home fans!

Semifinals Playoffs, best of 3 games

Record	Team	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
2	Asvel Basket (1)	69	69	62
1	Nancy (4)	70	53	56
2	Orléans (2)	76	61	66
1	Le Mans (3)	75	71	60

Semifinals Playoffs round games
Game 1	Asvel Basket vs. Nancy	69-70	June 5
Game 1	Orléans vs. Le Mans	76-75	June 6
Game 2	Nancy vs. Asvel Basket	53-69	June 10
Game 2	Le Mans vs. Orléans	71-61	June 9
Game 3	Asvel Basket vs. Nancy	62-56	June 13
Game 3	Orléans vs. Le Mans	66-60	June 13