The hosts erased a 13-point fourth-quarter lead to remain atop Group B
Bourg battles back to beat no-quit NINERS
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 6 of 18
Regular Season
group b
Cosea JL Bourg-en-BresseJLB
8582
NINERS ChemnitzNIN
group b
Overview
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“We came back because we’re proud, we’re at home and they were beating us,” said Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse center Kevin Kokila, after his performance helped inspire an 85-82 comeback win on Tuesday night.
Despite a highly disappointing first half against an undermanned NINERS Chemnitz team, Coach Frederic Fauthoux’s men were able to get the victory at the Ekinox Arena. Elevating their level in the final 8 minutes of the contest, they erased a 13-point deficit, partly sparked by an incredible final quarter from Both Gach.
“We had a sense of emergency, we knew we had to play now to win and that’s why everybody stepped up, playing more physical, more intense and better basketball. In the fourth quarter, we did a great job, but we have to do that from the beginning,” Kokila explained.
Coach Fauthoux was similarly impressed by the attitude of his players, given the shock of the first half performance, in which they scored just 36 points.
“We knew before the game that they played very good and physical basketball. They did that tonight,” Fauthoux said. “It’s a very good victory for us because we showed very good character. We never gave up. It was very important to win at home. The guys showed them what we can do.”
Gach led the way in scoring for Bourg with 18 points, while also pulling down 7 boards. Kokila carried a heavy load for Fauthoux’s team with a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Darius McGhee, Adam Mokoka and Will McDowell-White also scored in double figures.
The result moved Bourg to the top of their group, with a record of 5-1. Their opponents slid to 2-4 for the season, but managed to find encouragement in their performance, considering the extreme personnel circumstances.
The German team missed key players such as Kevin Yebo, Nike Sibande and John Newman III, which was punctuated as their foul tally grew. At the final buzzer, they had just five players available but still lost by a mere 3 points. Coach Rodrigo Pastore was pleased with what he saw and said he considered the contest something of a learning experience.
“I’m proud of how we fought,” Pastore commented. “Foul management was a huge problem for us the whole game. Some guys, we needed a little longer on the basketball court. We tried to use timeouts to give some rest to our guys. The ball didn’t go in and they made some great plays late in the game, so congratulations.”
Pastore’s men will hope to regroup and come closer to full health ahead of the next round, which sees them play Buducnost VOLI Podgorica next Wednesday, while Bourg will travel to Germany to face ratiopharm ulm in a week’s time.
