This Saturday evening, Longueau disputed the Coupe de France trophy with a trip to the floor of Saint Nicolas Arras, resident of R2.
Deprived of their captain, the Samarians also started the match with a handicap of 14 points, to compensate for their hierarchical advantage. They erased it quickly to lead after ten minutes (23-25). But the Artésiens did not let it go and Longueau did not manage to continue their momentum. Indeed, St Nicolas took control and even tipped over at the break with a nice lead of 10 points (48-38).
Upon returning from the locker room, the R2 team managed to stand up to the GreenTeam, maintaining a 7-point lead at the dawn of the last act (61-54). A gap that the Picards will not be able to fill, losing (78-70) at the start of this Coupe de France trophy.
A surprise defeat against a team of R2, which should not have any impact on the rest, the championship and the cup being very different and especially because the Samarians had rotated for this meeting. But it is still a failure and a bad result, the ESCLAMS being largely favorite at the start of this meeting.
Saint Nicolas Arras (+14) – ESCLAMS : 78-70 (9-25, 25-13, 13-16, 17-16)
Aurelien Finet
Photo credit: Kevin Devigne – Gazette Sports (archive)
