FRA - Holders Le Mans reach Semaine des As last four

NANCY (Semaine des As) - Le Mans and hosts Nancy were the first two teams to qualify for the semi-finals of France's Semaine des As play-offs.
Six players had double-figure points tallies as Le Mans, last year's winners, swept aside Strasbourg 91-76 on the opening day of the tournament to ease into the last four.

The holders established a 19-point cushion (53-34) by half-time and held on with some comfort from there on.

Yannick Bokolo (11 points) was one of the players to get into double figures and the guard felt his team's strong defence in the first half was key to the victory.

"The defensive intensity that we imposed on them from the start gave us some rhythm, and when you have the skill and ability we have on top of that, it makes life a lot easier," said the 21-year-old.

Eric Girard's Strasbourg bowed out, even though they had the match's top scorer in Chuck Eidson, who poured in 23 points.

Le Mans' 31-13 run in the second quarter proved Strasbourg's undoing, and their guard Gauthier Darrigand (14 points) admitted his side was well beaten.

"We really submitted to the dominance of Le Mans," he said.

"We conceded too many points and it became difficult for us to hope to get anything. We gave our all though."

In Thursday night's other quarter-final, a combined haul of 40 points from Cedrick Banks and Branko Milisavljevic helped Nancy claim a 84-78 win over Orleans.
They now meet Le Mans in Saturday's first semi-final.

Banks' 21 points and six assists were important contributions for his team, who were taken all the way by their opponents.

Ten points down by the end of the second quarter (44-34), the tournament hosts had pulled themselves back into the match going into the final period (61-60).

A tense last 10 minutes saw Nancy prevail by a closer margin than many people would have thought at the outset.

Banks has backed his team to improve against Le Mans and progress to the final.

"We know that in the next match, Le Mans will have a good defence," he said. "But we are also capable in defence."

On his own performance on Thursday, he added: "I wasn't so good in the first half.

"But in the dressing room, the coach (Jean-Luc Monschau) and my team-mates told me to continue to play and to shoot, and that helped me rediscover my confidence."

Orleans had the match's two leading scorers in Jermaine Boyette (24 points) and Terence Dials (22 points).

Steve Douglas
FIBA