Beautiful evening for the champions of France. Basket Landes indeed dominated the promoted Angers (89-74) on Saturday at home and well prepared for its Coupe de France final next Saturday at Paris-Bercy against Bourges. This success allows the Landaises to join Villeneuve d’Ascq in second place while Asvel, fifth with a victory for these two teams and Charleville, receives Lattes-Montpellier on Sunday.
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As a bonus, the Landaises have found their two emblematic figures, Céline Dumerc and Valériane Vukosavljevic. Arrested (adductors) a few weeks, the former captain of the Blue (39) played 17 minutes for 4 points and 7 assists. Her ex-teammate in the selection, she was playing her first match since her maternity leave. The winger, bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, played seven minutes and secured 5 points for two successful shots out of two. Regan Margarity (32 points, 12 rebounds) and Marianna Tolo (20 points) spearheaded the success of Julie Barennes’ daughters.
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Tarbes made the good operation of the evening by dominating Saint-Amand (76-63), a direct opponent for eighth place in the final phase. The Pyrenees took over the point-average (55-57 defeat in the first leg). The Flammes de Charleville won at Landerneau (64-56) after three straight losses and rebounded for the top 4 while Bourges, assured of first place, inflicted a fifteenth defeat in a row on the red lantern Charnay (76-70) with 28 points and 8 rebounds from Iliana Rupert.
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