Brescia invades Bourg for 66-74 victory
Germani Brescia denied Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse an early playoff qualification with a masterful 66-74 road win on Tuesday in Group A. Brescia broke a two-game losing streak and raised its record to 6-7 while Bourg, which would have made the playoffs with a victory, fell to 8-5. Brescia also claimed the tiebreak between the two after Bourg won their first meeting by just 2 points. Kenny Gabriel nailed 4 three-pointers for 19 points to lead Brescia, while Amadeo Della Valle added 16, Aleksej Nikolic and C.J. Massenberg 12 each. Jordan Floyd was Bourg's sole double-digit scorer with 12 points.
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Triples from Nikolic and Gabriel around a pair of inside baskets by Tai Odiase let Brescia lead 10-12. Nikolic bettered Jordan Floyd's second three-pointer with his third for a 13-18 Brescia advantage. Alexandre Chassang and Pierre Pelos cut Bourg's deficit and Hugo Benitez hit a layup on the buzzer for Bourg to tie 20-20 after 10 minutes. Maxime Courby's triple gave Bourg a new lead, 23-22, but it remained a cat-and-mouse game, with Brescia pulling away and the hosts chasing. Della Valle and Gabriel filled a 2-9 run for a high Brescia lead until then of 28-36 but Isaiah Mike and Axel Julien changed the moment with triples and Bourg reeled it back to within 39-40 at halftime.
Gabriel's back-to-back three-pointers after the break kept Brescia up and he soon drilled his fourth shot from deep to make it 43-51. Nikolic fed Christian Burns for a dunk to match Brescia's high lead at 49-58, but on cue Bourg cut it to 53-58 on a layup by Pelos on the third-quarter buzzer. Franz Massenat's fastbreak finish and super-long triple suddenly had Bourg within 59-60 early in the fourth quarter. Della Valle calmed the visitors with a jumper and Massenburg kept it going with a triple at 59-65 with under 4 minutes left. Bourg was held to 4 free throws over more than 6 minutes, and when Della Valle fed Nikolic for a corner triple at 62-70 with 35 seconds left, the upset was complete.