Bourg holds off Cedevita for second straight win

Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse made a winning streak for the first time this season after holding off Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 76-69 on Wednesday at Ekinox. Bourg outscored the visitors 10-0 over the final 5 minutes of the second quarter to lead 37-25 at halftime and was able to fend off Cedevita’s charges in the third and fourth quarters to build on the Round 10 victory at Umana Reyer Venice and improve to 4-7 on the season. The result took Bourg past Cedevita in the standings, too, as the visitors fell to 3-7. Maxime Courby led all Bourg scorers with 13 points, Axel Julien recorded his first double-double in the competition with 12 points and 10 assists and Hugo Benitez added 10 points. Yogi Ferrell paced Cedevita with 24 points, Edo Muric tallied 13 points and 12 rebounds and Jaka Blazic also scored 13 in defeat.

Ferrell opened the scoring with a floater and Muric turned a broken play into a layup to double the lead. Rasheed Sulaimon got Bourg on the scoreboard with free throws, Pierre Pelos evened things with a fade-away jumper and Sulaimon gave the hosts their first lead. It was 8-4 after Alexandre Chassang’s jumper. Ferrell and Melvin Ejim sandwiched threes around a triple by Julien to trim the gap. Cedevita continued to find success from deep and threes by Muric and Ferrell knotted the score at 18-18. After layups by Jacob Pullen and Maxime Roos, the first quarter ended with the teams tied 20-20.

After an extended break between the quarters due to a clock malfunction, Benitez took charge for Bourg with free throws and a triple as the hosts regained the lead. Pullen kept Cedevita close, 27-25, midway through the quarter. Courby took charge with a pair of threes to highlight a 10-0 surge while the Bourg defense kept Cedevita scoreless for the final 6 minutes of the half. The hosts went into halftime in control 37-25.

Bourg picked up when it left off with Julien flinging assists on the first two possessions, the second a triple by Courby for a 15-point lead. Cedevita started to score and Blazic got on the scoreboard with back-to-back three-pointers to trim the deficit to 45-37. Zoran Dragic converted a basket-plus-foul and Edo Muric completed a 0-12 run with a triple to bring the visitors within 45-43. Chassang ended the Bourg bleeding with a jumper before Blazic and Julien traded threes. JaCorey Williams and Benitez helped Bourg pad its lead, which reached 9 on a three by Pelos. Blazic made free throws to bring Cedevita within 59-52 at the end of the third quarter.

Cedevita went cold again to start the fourth with a pair of free throws by Pullen its only points for nearly 4 minutes. Ferrell got to the line and trimmed the deficit further and his baseline jumper silenced the arena at 62-59. He added another free throw before matching Julien’s three with one of his own. Sulaimon’s first triple of the night made it 68-63 with 4 minutes remaining. After a timeout, Julien drained his 4th three of the night and Chassang restored a double-digit advantage with free throws. Cedevita continued to fight, but time became the enemy and Bourg held on for the victory.

Julien nets Bourg a rare double-double

Axel Julien shined for Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana with 12 points and 10 assists. All of his points came on three-pointers; he shot 4 for 8 from long distance. The playmaker also collected 2 steals and did commit any turnovers in posting a career-best PIR of 24. Julien not only bested his own club record for assists with the first double-double of his EuroCup career, but notched what was only Bourg’s second double-double of the season. Eric Mika had the first with 22 points and 11 rebounds in a Round 3 rout of Promitheas Patras.

By the numbers: Bourg has fewer turnovers, more assists

Even though Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse was badly outrebounded by Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, the home team did just about everything else better to notch the win on Wednesday. Cedevita took 42 rebounds, which were 13 more than the home team, but was also forced into 20 turnovers by Bourg, which committed half that amount. Bourg dished 19 assists to Cedevita’s 11 and shot much better from the field. Both teams made 12 three-pointers, but Bourg needed just 29 shots to do so for a 41.4% success rate while Cedevita attempted 35 shots (34.4%). The visitors were held to 44.4% shooting on two-pointers (12 for 27).

Muric has another big game for Cedevita

Edo Muric continued his strong run of form for Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana with his first EuroCup double-double and a career-high 12 rebounds. Muric scored 13 points on solid shooting; he made 2 of 4 two-pointers and 3 of 5 threes. The forward also had 2 steals in compiling a performance index rating of 19. It came one week after he tallied 10 rebounds against Gran Canaria, for what would prove to be a short-lived personal best. In his previous five EuroCup seasons, Muric never grabbed more than 8 boards in a game. He now has scored and posted a PIR in double figures in six of his last seven games.