NANTERRE (FIBA Europe Cup) - All remaining questions in this FIBA Europe Cup campaign will be answered on Tuesday, when two title hopefuls from France, Nanterre 92 and Elan Chalon, will meet for the second time to settle their international dispute that didn't come any closer to being resolved after the first leg.

Coming off a well-deserved French Cup triumph against Le Mans Sarthe Basket over the weekend, Pascal Donnadieu's side will seek to keep their composure until the end of what has been an incredibly busy week with three do-or-die games in the space of seven days.

"We waited until we were down by 16 points before starting to play defense the way we're capable of. I think that if we start to play on the defensive end like that from beginning, it can be a very different game."Jeremy NzeulieJeremy Nzeulie

On the other end, Elan Chalon had all the time in the world to game-plan for Nanterre and plenty of motivation to get their competitive juices flowing. Unlike their to-be opponents, who won the EuroChallenge in 2015, the Chalon-sur-Saone side don't have an international trophy under their belts just yet.

Until recently, one member of the Elan Chalon team used to be on the other side of the barricades. Having started his professional career under coach Donnadieu, 26-year-old guard Jeremy Nzeulie will know the ins and outs of his previous team better than anyone else.

After leaving Nanterre last summer, he penned a two-year deal with Elan Chalon.

"Obviously, it will be a special game for me. No matter what happens — either we win or we lose — it will be a strange feeling to play in my former team's gym in front of the fans of my former team," Nzeulie told FIBA.com ahead of Tuesday's contest.

I'm still in touch with a lot of people from Nanterre – some coaches, trainers and so on. And I also played with three of the players who are on the team this season."

All in all, the Cameroon national team representative has spent eight seasons with Nanterre, winning four different titles – the French League, the French Cup, the French Super Cup and the EuroChallenge.

Given their long history, has there been any back-and-forth banter going on with his friends back in Nanterre?

"There was no trash talking about the Finals," Nzeulie smiled. "We had some for the Regular Season games in France, but I think it's too important of a game and one team is going to end up disappointed, so we don't want to start to do that."

While his former teammates were on a mission to add another trophy to the Nanterre trophy cabinet in the French Cup, Elan Chalon and Nzeulie were hard at work at practice, preparing to stop them at least on the international front.

Nevertheless, he applauded his former side on the achievement: "I couldn't watch the actual game, as we had practice, so I just saw the end. I'm happy for the Nanterre organization; they deserve it."

However, there is no room for pleasantries when the talk turns to Tuesday's title-decider in the FIBA Europe Cup. With the tie knotted up at 58-all after the first leg, there is no way of telling which way the pendulum will swing at the Palais des Sports Maurice Thorez.

After a horrendous first half in the first game, which later required a big comeback to stay in contention, Nzeulie stressed the importance of not falling into the same trap and actually starting the game locked in.

"We waited until we were down by 16 points before starting to play defense the way we're capable of. I think that if we start to play on the defensive end like that from beginning, it can be a very different game," he explained.

Nanterre may be on a roll of late, but Nzeulie and company will be out to get them and take in some of the spoils in a finals-heavy week for French basketball, which – no matter who wins the FIBA Europe Cup trophy – has been the biggest winner in this situation.

The second leg of the FIBA Europe Cup Finals will take place at 20:30 CET on Tuesday, April 25 at Palais des Sports Maurice Thorez in Nanterre.

FIBA