CHOLET (France) - Cholet Basket have become accustomed to losing the opening game during the FIBA Europe Cup Play-Offs before rallying to advance.

Now, the French side are just one more home victory from celebrating the title in front of the faithful at La Meilleraie - if they can overturn a four-point deficit. 

"IT WOULD MEAN SO MUCH TO WIN THE TITLE IN FRONT OF OUR HOME FANS." - Artis

Anwil Wloclawek were victorious in the first leg with an 81-77 victory to gain the upperhand in the tie, but it's still all to play for in France on Wednesday.

"It would mean so much to win the title in front of our home fans. As an organization we can feel the excitement of the game all throughout the city," said Artis.

"It also means a lot for us as players because it would allow us to leave behind something for the supportive people of Cholet to be proud of for years to come."

Head coach Laurent Vila's team went to Poland and led by as many as nine points in a game that swayed in momentum throughout. Cholet shot a poor 29.6 percent from long range but kept it within striking distance thanks to Artis scoring 19 points with 4 rebounds and 4 assists, Boris Dallo picking up 17 points and 8 rebounds and Neal Sako chipping in 14 points.

"The mindset after the first leg is good job but not good enough. The positive I can take going into next week is we got to see the type of energy that we need to bring to compete with a team like Anwil," Artis said.

Another positive is that Artis and co. are not in uncharted waters in having lost the first game of the Play-Offs. Cholet turned around a one-point loss at BC Budivelnyk Kyiv with an 83-79 home win in the return leg in the Quarter-Finals, and then countered a seven-point loss to BC Kalev/Cramo in the Semi-Finals with an 81-59 blowout at home.

Artis said of the team's ability to bounce back: "It says that we have a great coaching staff that makes key adjustments based off the mistakes made in the previous game. It also says that we have a coachable unit of players ready to take on any task at hand, no matter the amount of pressure that comes with that."

If Cholet can manage to become the second French winners in FIBA Europe Cup history following Nanterre 92 in the 2016-17 season, Artis will be a big reason for that. The 29-year-old guard averaged 13.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists during the Regular Season. But, he has picked up his game in the Play-Offs.

In the five post-season games thus far, Artis is averaging 21.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists, including back-to-back 26-point outbursts in the return leg of the Quarter-Finals and first game of the Semi-Finals.

Play-Offs Dominic Artis has been even better than Regular Season Dominic Artis

"I feel very confident in my game right now. In large part due to my teammates that encourage me to stay locked in, as well as my coaches putting me in great position to showcase my strengths," said Artis.

But the talented guard also knows he will need to do more than just score and create on offense for Cholet to knock off Anwil and become the seventh different winner in FIBA Europe Cup history.

"I think I can do more defensively in keying in on limiting my assignment of (Anwil's Phillip) Greene and (Victor) Sanders."

Artis and Cholet know the situation they are in - and they know exactly what it takes to come out successful. Can they work their home court magic one more time for the title?

FIBA