The Roca Team Falls To Nancy: They Must Dig Deep To Stay On Top In The League!

The Roca Team fell for the second time in a row this season in the championship (86-100). And for the first at Gaston-Médecin. Obviously, fatigue was felt in the Monegasque ranks. Roca must now dig deep and pull itself together.

For this 28th day of Betclic Elite, the Roca Team faced Nancy in its Gaston-Médecin hall with the intention of moving forward in the championship after the defeat suffered last weekend against Saint-Quentin. And to get a breath of fresh air at the top of the Betclic Elite, given that Paris was a hit at Le Mans with a victory of 33 points, 88-55.

For this meeting against the team from Nancy Sasa Obradovic decided to leave Alpha Diallo and Elie Okobo to rest, in addition to Terry Tarpey, injured. The starting five concocted by the Monegasque coach was made up of Mike James, Matthew Strazel, Yakuba Ouattara, John Brown III and Donatas Motiejunas.

The first two minutes were made up of blunders on both sides. The visitors finally took advantage with Johnson on the throwing line (0-6). But when Sylvain Lautié took the first timeout of this meeting, Roca had recovered to lead 7-6.
And at the buzzer of Q1, Monaco had a slim lead of three points 28-25.

In the second quarter, with the two teams back to back at 31-31, Sasa Obradovic takes his first time-out to good effect as Roca break away to lead 43-35, causing a Time-out by Sylvain Lautié.

The Mike James show begins. First with a shot for which he has the secret, then with a magnificent alley-oop pass for Donta Hall (47-39).

Finally at the break, after intense dueling the Roca Team is again only 3 points ahead thanks to a precious Jordan Loyd performance (53-50).

The Second Half

Returning from the locker room, Sasa Obradovic decides to return to the field with a different five than during the first act. On the field: Mike James, Jordan Loyd, Jaron Blossomgame, John Brown III and Donatas Motiejunas. A serious start to the second act with Mike James at the helm, But Nancy does not give up, quite the contrary. Thompson in the paint plays on his athletic qualities, and Clemons again treats him to three points (57-57). Mike James does not tremble on the throwing line (59-57).

John Brown III fought like a lion and was rewarded with a basket with the mistake (62-57). The match is physical, with a Nancy team which bravely plays its luck and which remains in the game on the scoreboard with Omenaka and Clemons still there (62-62). It is difficult to predict the outcome of this battle. Johnson even puts his team in front again on a killer shot behind the arc. And Clemons adds another layer to put Nancy six points ahead (62-68). At this point Sasa Obradovic takes the time-out.

At the dawn of the last ten minutes, the Roca Team has clawed back to 4 points behind (72-76). The challenge lies with super-hot Clemons with his 27 points.

Nothing works for Asemists besides their shoes, which seem to be borrowed. The gap climbs beyond the 10 point mark for the visitors (76-87). Which pushes Sasa Obradovic to take another time-out.

To no avail as Frisch kills the match with brilliant actions, and the Roca Team will not manage to come back in this meeting.