CHOLET (France) - Cholet Basket bounced back to defeat Tofas Bursa 105-86, forcing a decider in the Play-Ins of Season X, powered by Ameresco SUNEL.
With their Basketball Champions League season on the line, they played arguably their best game of the season to tie the best-of-three series.
Turning Point
Cholet created a double digit lead early on and stayed in front, but had a scare as Tofas created a nice little 7-0 run to crawl back to -14 late in the third quarter.
That's when T.J. Campbell decided it's time to delete their hopes of a comeback, hitting the buzzer-beating three-pointer to make it a 17-point lead with just 10 minutes left to play.
Game Hero
Jamuni McNeace has been dunking and soaring above rims all over the world, but it turns out his two best games in his entire career came against Tofas Bursa, both on January 9!
Back in 2024, McNeace had 17 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks to help PAOK mateco to a one-point win over Tofas.
That was his career-high in points for exactly two years, as he eclipsed the mark on Friday with 18 points on 8-of-8 shooting from the field, unsolvable puzzle for Tofas' defense.
Stats Don't Lie
We talk about offensive and defensive ratings and all other advanced stats, but sometimes, it's about the most basic stat of them all: getting the ball to go through the hoop.
Cholet shot 38.2 percent from inside the arc and 32.4 percent from beyond it in Game 1, only to improve those two numbers to 66.7 and 46.7 percent in the first half of Game 2.
No wonder they opened up an 18-point lead before the break and iced the game.
Bottom Line
Severe weather conditions postponed the game from Thursday to Friday, and Tofas Bursa just looked a step slower than their hosts throughout the game.
Furkan Korkmaz had a team-high 15 points in just 18 minutes of work for coach Emil Rajkovikj.
Meanwhile, coach Fabrice Lefrancois enjoyed an all-round effort, as 10 different players scored, seven of them in double figures.
Game 3 will be played back in Türkiye on Wednesday, January 14. The losing team ends their European campaign, while the winners will move to Round of 16 Group J, alongside AEK BC, ALBA BERLIN and Karditsa Iaponiki.
They Said
"We gotta, not forget but how do I say, move on. But remember what they did tonight. They were smiling, as I said, putting a lot of pressure on defense and we gotta remember that too. You know, do the same s*** at home." - Hugo Besson, Tofas Bursa