Domestic round-up: Elan Chalon win again, unsuspecting Nanterre punished in Cholet

MUNICH (FIBA EUROPE CUP) - There were contrasting results for the two FIBA Europe Cup Finalists in the French LNB Pro A mid-week action, as Elan Chalon picked up their third consecutive victory, while Nanterre 92 got on the wrong side of a blowout against Cholet Basket.

Both of the teams will play another round in the domestic championship during the weekend before shifting their attention to Tuesday's first-leg duel in the FIBA Europe Cup Final.

NANCY 74-106 ELAN CHALON
Elan Chalon had no problems away from home against bottom-of-the-table SLUC Nancy, making easy work of the likely relegation candidates with a sweeping 106-74 victory behind big performances by the once-again-magnificent trio of Cameron Clark, John Roberson and Moustapha Fall.

Jean-Denys Choulet's side pulled away by double figures in the second quarter and never looked back, with Clark providing most of the fuel in the escape with another near triple-double performance of 27 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.

Roberson added 20 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists, while Fall, who has been on an incredible stretch of late, made his inside presence felt with 17 points, 12 boards, 3 assists and 2 blocks.

The win allowed Elan Chalon to preserve their second place in the table with a 20-7 mark behind league leaders AS Monaco, who have a four-game lead over their nearest rivals from Chalon-sur-Saone.

CHOLET 85-54 NANTERRE
In a lackluster performance not at all reminiscent of their own selves, Nanterre hit a brick wall on the road against the 14th-placed Cholet Basket, dropping to a surprisingly large 85-54 defeat at Le Meillaraie and tumbling down to fifth place in the standings with an 18-9 record.

Having connected on just 18-of-58 attempts from the field and lost the rebounding battle 42-21, the visitors from the Parisian suburbs simply did not stand a chance in western France after allowing Cholet to run away already in the opening quarter.

"It was a deserved win for Cholet. We were dominated throughout the match. Cholet are a very competitive side and they've lost a lot of games in the league by very small margins this season," said head coach Pascal Donnadieu after a performance to forget.

Brian Conklin was the only player in double-figures for Nanterre with 11 points, playmaker Chris Warren chipped in with 9 points and 5 assists, while forward Mykal Riley came up with 8 points.

Heiko Schaffartzik did not suit up in the game.

FIBA