With Monaco and Villeurbanne present in the Top 8 of the Coupe de France, the road to the final of the Coupe de France was not clear for the Palois. But Gravelines, by eliminating Asvel in the quarters, and Strasbourg, by overthrowing Monaco in the half, lit the way. After having logically dominated Fos-sur-Mer (93-72) on Saturday, the Palois did not fail against the Gravelinois whom they had already dominated twice in Betclic Elite, and who presented themselves diminished by the absences of Jenkins and Ndoye (88-85).
“The objective has been achieved”, welcomes Eric Bartecheky after experiencing a suspenseful end to the match. Leading by 17 points (74-57) at the start of the last quarter, Elan saw the BCM return to -2 in the final seconds. “We had a game full of twists and turns, continues the Pau coach. We took the lead several times in the match, but each time we let the BCM come back. Like Hill, the Gravelinois also showed talent. It’s great to be in the final, it’s been a long time since the club reached this level of the competition. It’s a little icing on the cake in addition to the fight for the playoffs. We are happy”.
Strasbourg impresses
If Pau did not make a mistake, his opponent in the final impressed by dismissing Levallois (95-87), the leader in the championship, then Monaco, by recovering a handicap of 17 points at the end of the match for s win in overtime (86-73). For Eric Bartecheky the SIG will be the favorite in the final: “If I look at Strasbourg today, it’s very high level, in the organization and the athletic side. If we played them today, it would be very complicated. We’ll see in a month…”
The job is not finished. Going to the final is good, but now we have to win it
The pivot Hamady Ndiaye also savors this qualification: “This scenario of a tight end to the match, we have already known it. We of course thought of their comeback against Villeurbanne the day before. On our side, we would have to manage to keep the energy and the concentration to maintain a constant effort until the end”.
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