Bourges forces a third match in the Euroleague quarter-finals

Bourges will play its place in the Final Four of the Euroleague on Wednesday March 22 (3 p.m.) in Mersin. Sharply beaten on Tuesday (84-56) in the first leg in Turkey, the French champions reacted on Friday (76-75) by dominating the first thirty-eight minutes of the second leg before containing the final rush from Tiffany Hayes and her teammates.

Endy Miyem (9 points, 5 rebounds) scored the winning free throw seven seconds from time to keep two possessions clear. Aleksandra Crvendakic (11 points) passed a three-pointer at the final buzzer but Bourges was able to celebrate in his Prado his first success in a Euroleague quarter-final since 2015 and the first defeat for two months of his opponent who had chained twelve victories , including six in the Euroleague.

Anderson and *****t, the engines

Yvonne Anderson (22 points) and Alix *****t (16) were the two offensive engines of Bourges who shot 7 out of 10 from three points and could count on a contribution of 21 points from his bench against 6 for the Turks.

The two backs made their opponents dizzy. The US leader put Bourges in orbit in the first half. With a solid defense and rebound and speed, the French widened the gap to ten points at the break (39-29). They suffered the power of Elizabeth Williams on recovery, Mersin came back to four points (42-38). But out of time out, Anderson, *****t and Miyem went around.

The leader of the Bleues chained two big outside baskets at the start of the fourth quarter to increase the lead to thirteen points (66-53). Anderson maintained a good gap entering the last two minutes (75-66). Tiffany Hayes (26 points) and Mersin then made it 6-0 and a little thrill in the stands but Bourges did not panic and, with composure, contained the last assaults of the Turkish team. For Bourges and for French basketball, the door to a first Final Four since 2014 remains open.

In the other quarter-finals, only the armada of Fenerbahçe got their ticket to the last four. Breanna Stewart’s teammates (25 points) won (2-0) the series against defending champion Sopron by winning in Hungary (82-62). At home, Valencia equalized (1-1) against Schio (80-75) as did Salamanca against Prague (73-71 ap). For the Czechs, Valériane Vukosavljevic scored 11 points with a meager percentage (4 of 14 on shots).