Elan Chalon-sur-Saone edged Bilbao Basket 81-79 in a thriller, keeping alive its chances of advancing on Tuesday. This is the third win in the last four matches for Chalon, while Bilbao suffered its fifth consecutive loss. Both teams hold 4-5 record in the fourth place of Group B, however Bilbao holds a tiebreaker due to a 10-point win in Round 4. Chalon took the lead early, but it evaporated in the third quarter and Bilbao’s 2-14 run for 50-59. However, at the end of the third and start of the second A.J. Slaughter led the hosts in 14-3 spurt to regain the advantage. Leads went back and forth, and Chalon prevailed with going 7 of 8 from the foul line, compared to the visitors’ 2-for-6 in the final 2 minutes. Jordan Aboudou paced the winners with 19 points. Steed Tchicamboud scored 14, and Slaughter finished with 13 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Kris Joseph and Jon Brockman scored 11 apiece for Chalon. Antanas Kavaliauskas had 18 points plus 10 rebounds for Bilbao. Raul Lopez finished with 17 points and 9 assists, Fran Pilepic netted 16 points, while Alex Mumbru collected 14 points plus 10 rebounds in defeat.

Aboudou and Pilepic traded threes to start the game before Clint Capela sparked a 9-0 run for the hosts. Chalon went up 14-4 before Kavaliauskas got the visitors going with 7 points, and Raul Lopez nailed his first triple for Bilbao, but couple of dunks by Aboudou made it 24-17 after 10 minutes. Another one from long range from Lopez, and from close range by Kavaliauskas cut it to 28-24 early in the second. The hosts kept the lead through Aboudou, and with help from Tchicamboud and Brockman. However, Pilepic nailed a triple, Mumbru added a basket-plus-foul, before back-to-back threes from Pilepic and Lopez cut it to 37-36. The hosts held 41-38 at halftime, and a put-back from Capela and a triple from Tchicamboud made it 48-45 midway through the third. However, Lopez and Mumbru hit back-to-back threes for Bilbao, then Pilepic followed his fastbreak layup with a triple, before German Gabriel capped a 2-14 run from close range for 50-59. But A.J. Slaughter nailed a triple for Chalon, and in the final minute of the third, Aboudou had a fastbreak dunk and Ilian Evtimov beat the buzzer with a three-pointer for 58-59. Evtimov and Slaughter scored early in the second, before Brockman added a dunk for 64-61. Tchicamboud buried a triple for Chalon, but Kavaliauskas and Mumbru tied the score at 69-69. After Aboudou and Lopez traded three-pointers, Chalon went back in front from the foul line, but Gabriel sank a three-pointer for 76-77 with 90 seconds to go. However, Tchicamboud made a pair of free throws, putting the hosts in front for good, as Gabriel and Mumbru each missed twice from the floor, and Axel Hervelle missed both attempts from the free throw line. Slaughter’s fastbreak layup sealed it for Chalon, keeping its hope of advancing alive.