Limoges stave off elimination with win at Tofas

Limoges staved off elimination in the 7DAYS EuroCup by picking up a 92-98 victory at Tofas Bursa, meaning the final Top 16 ticket from Group B will be decided in Round 10. Jordan Taylor paced Limoges with 21 points in his debut, while William Howard added 19 points and 7 rebounds and Axel Bouteille had 16 points and 6 rebounds as the French side improved to 3-6. Tofas has the same 3-6 record and missed a chance to move into the next stage with the loss. Sammy Mejia led Tofas with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists and Diante Garrett collected 16 points and 6 assists.

Jerry Boutsiele scored the guests' first 6 points and Limoges was up 6-10 before Mejia and Kyle Weems hit back-to-back three-pointers for a 14-10 lead. Taylor and Bouteille answered with back-to-back triples to start a Limoges 0-10 run to go ahead 14-20. Isaiah Miles added a four-point play and the visitors led 22-28 after 10 minutes. Miles's three to start the second quarter made it a 9-point lead for Limoges. The second quarter went back and forth with Tofas's 11-0 surge opening a 35-33 lead before Howard hit 7 points as the guests went up 38-44. Tofas tallied 8 straight points, but it was Limoges on top at the break 46-47 thanks to Howard's buzzer-beater three from three-quarters court. Meija started the second half hot with 7 straight points to help Tofas open a 55-49 cushion, which Limoges took away immediately with 2 three-pointers. Garrett finally scored his second basket with three minutes left in the third quarter to put Tofas up 63-59 and it was 68-61 after 5 straight points from Weems. But Miles converted a three-point play and Howard hit another three-pointer in the waning seconds. It was even 68-68 after 30 minutes. Tofas used the long-range shot to pull ahead in the fourth with Weems starting the quarter with a three and Garrett hitting 3 straight triples to open an 81-73 advantage. But Limoges used the outside shot to gain control with Howard, Damien Inglis and Taylor all hitting from the perimeter to go up 85-89. Taylor added a big layup over Kenny Kadji and the game was decided on Bouteille's three-pointer with 15 seconds left that made it 90-96.

Great start

Limoges won its first game under new head coach Francois Peronnet, who was promoted from assistant coach to replace Kyle Milling before the national team break.

Game-changing sequence

Limoges had been fighting all game and finally finished off Tofas with execution in the final minute with Jordan Taylor hitting a layup over Kenny Kadji with 42 seconds left and then Axel Bouteille nailing a three-pointer with 15 seconds left to make it 90-96.

Pivotal performer

Taylor was great all around for Limoges with 21 points to go with 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals for a performance index rating of 19.

Telling numbers

Limoges nailed 14 of 25 three-pointers (56.0%) and made 14 of 15 free throws (93.3%), while also outrebounding Tofas 35-26, including 16 offensive rebounds.

In Round 10

Limoges will host Arka Gdynia looking for a win to go through. Tofas will finish the regular season with a road game at Cedevita Zagreb, needing a victory and a Limoges loss to claim the final Top 16 ticket from Group B.