Coupe de France: Nanterre first in semifinals

The Coupe de France headed into the quarterfinals on Tuesday with the first match-up taking place pitting Limoges (Pro A) against Nanterre (Pro A). Limoges is currently sitting in the No. 13 spot in the LNB at 8-12, while Nanterre is No. 7 sporting an 11-10 record. The other contest was the final Round of 16 game between Rouen (Pro B) and Paris Levallois (Pro A) to finalize the quarterfinal slots and provide an opponent for the surprise of the Coupe de France, Sorgues, the final NM1 club in the competition. As the horns sounded on the two events, Paris had booked their advancement and Nanterre was the first club to qualify for the semis.

Rouen (Pro B) – Paris Levallois (Pro A), 71:80
Paris Levallois grabbed the final slot in the Coupe de France with a 71:80 victory of Pro B club Rouen on Tuesday. Rouen put up a good fight for the first half, before getting outscored 13:26 in the third quarter, which was enough to put the game away and send Paris to the quarterfinals.

The clubs opened their Round of 16 contest with Rouen getting an early 5:0 lead, only to be countered by Paris with a 0:9 run. The exchanged continued with the Pro B club putting up a 12:2 run to get up 17:11. Paris closed out the quarter outscoring Rouen 6:10 to bring the contest to 23:21, with neither team adding any points in the final minute of the first 10. The teams exchanged the lead a few times early in the second, then Paris got up 33:36 when Sean May connected on a pair of singles, then shortly after split a pair. From there it was a long-ball contest as Rouen pulled even with a triple, then Paris got a three-ball from Giovan Oniangue, followed by Ateba Babien knotting the score at 39 with a triple, and finally Oniangue wrapping up the half with his second shot from downtown, sending the clubs to the dressing rooms with Paris up 39:42. Paris took control in the third, slowly pulling away and then with the score at 49:55 they ran off a 3:14 run in the final three minutes to set up final frame with the score sitting at 52:68. Rouen was able to chip away seven points from the deficit in the fourth, but it was just too much to overcome and Paris had earned a spot in the quarters with a 71:80 win.

May led Paris with 24 points, John Cox added 17, Oniangue dropped in 13, and Louis Labeyrie contributed 9 points and 8 rebounds.

Rouen got 14 from Darien Basset, 13 from Philippe Da Silva, and 12 each from Moustapha Diarra and Tai Wesley.

Limoges (Pro A) vs. Nanterre (Pro A), 76:83
Nanterre downed fellow Pro A club, Limoges, in the first quarterfinals match-up of the Coupe de France. Limoges was able to stay tight in the first half, taking the lead in the contest numerous times, before Nanterre took control and put some distance between them. Limoges wasn’t through though as they were able to battle back in the fourth and pull within four before taking care of business with free throws to close out the contest.

Limoges struck first with a three-ball, but Nanterre covered that with seven unanswered. The clubs knotted the score at 11 before Nanterre put up seven straight, then had Limoges finish the quarter on a 7:2 run, putting the score at 18:20 after the first 10. The second opened with five unanswered by Limoges to get the lead back. They spent the better part of the quarter exchanging the lead, then as the half drew to a close, Nanterre outscored Limoges 2:7 to head into the break up 35:41. The margin grew to 11 deep in the third quarter, but Limoges was able to cut back to five as the stanza came to a close, 55:60. A pair of triples pushed the lead back to 11, then a series of free throws, a dunk by Brad Wanamaker, and a triple by Jean-Francois Basileu brought the advantage to it’s highest point of 12, 62:74 with three minutes to play. Colo Nobel Boungou knocked down a triple of his own to start a 9:1 run by Limoges that pulled them within four, 71:75, with just over a minute remaining on the clock. Mid-way through the final minute Sambou Traore hit a jumper to again get Limoges within four, but then Chris Oliver ended up heading to the charity stripe twice, knocking down three of four to ice the contest with seven-point advantage and little time remaining. After all the typical game-ending free throws were tallied, Nanterre had earned a 76:83 win and advancement to the semis.

Chris Warren was high man for Nanterre with 16, Oliver (7 rebounds) and Johan Passave-Ducteil added 11 each, and Trenton Meacham and Juan Palacios (5 rebounds) dropped in 10 a piece.

Boungou was game-high with 23 points, 6 rebounds, and an evaluation of 25. Wanamaker added 18 points.

Coupe de France de Basket Quarterfinal Match-ups:
Tuesday, March 5
Limoges (Pro A) vs. Nanterre (Pro A), 76:83

Tuesday, March 19
Roanne (Pro A) vs. ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne (Pro A)
Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pro B) vs. Strasbourg (Pro A)
Sorgues (NM1) vs. Paris Levallois (Pro A)