The Phoenix will flutter wings beyond the regular season. Promoted to Betclic Élite after coming close to disappearing in 2018, Saint-Quentin qualified for the play-offs on Saturday alongside Cholet (see below). Opposed to Strasbourg in the poster of the 34th and final day, Julien Mahé’s players took off after half-time (86-66) against overwhelmed SIGmen. For the first time since 2012, the Alsatian club will not be in the final phase, having made five consecutive finals from 2013 to 2017 then came very close to eliminating Monaco in the quarter-finals in 2022.
In its packed Pierre-Ratte sports center, Saint-Quentin took the lead at the start (26-13, 9th) thanks in particular to the external skill of Loïc Schwartz (12 points), one of the five survivors of the adventure in Pro B. But Massimo Cancellieri’s SIG tightened a few bolts in defense and found a little skill to come back before half-time (36-37, 18th), under the leadership of leader Phil Booth.
Faced with a more experienced opponent, the youth and nerve of the SQBB finally made the difference, like Nolan Traoré (17 years old), bluffing in creation (7 points, 8 assists) and author of a lay-up. up while touching above the outstretched arms of Nysier Brooks in the heart of the Saint-Quentin “run” (63-50, 29th). Without solutions against Mathis Dossou-Yovo (18 points) in the post, Strasbourg ends its season this Saturday, two weeks after stumbling against Dijon in the Coupe de France final.
Cholet frustrates Dijon
The Dijonnais are the other big losers of the evening, the fault of Cholet. For Laurent Vila’s last in the regular season, the Mauges club almost missed the eighth ticket in the play-offs against Chalon (87-77). “CB” immediately lost Erik Stevenson, apparently the victim of a breakdown in the middle of a counter-attack. Forced to battle against Aleksej Nikolic (14 points, 8 assists), Cholet even trailed in the last quarter (70-71, 33rd).
But TJ Campbell (10 points, 10 assists) and Neal Sako (18 points, 10 rebounds) restarted the machine until the final stab: this award-winning basket from Vojtech Hruban, drawn after hesitation (82-75, 38th). At the same time, Dijon secured its victory against Le Mans (87-77), obtained in particular thanks to the indestructible David Holston and his 17 points in the first half.
Allan Dokossi (9 points, 6 rebounds) took over after returning from the locker room with two huge dunks (59-54, 28th) before a final arrow from Joshua Obiesie on the head of William Howard who had nevertheless trapped the German international near from the sideline (77-70, 37th). Out of the race for the play-offs, Nancy ended 2023-2024 with a victory in Gentilly at the expense of Gravelines (69-59), already maintained.
