Nanterre’s Eurocup journey ends with victory

JSF Nanterre finished its Eurocup campaign on a winning note, downing Telekom Baskets Bonn 86-95 on Wednesday. Nanterre needed a win by more than 6 points, and a loss by Union Olimpija Ljubljana to qualify, however, Olimpija edged EWE Baskets Oldenburg to go through, and eliminate Nanterre which finishes regular season with 4-6 record in the fifth place of Group A. Bonn is in the last place with 2-8 record. Gerald Robinson and Mykal Riley were unstoppable in the first half, combining to score 33 of team’s first 42 points. Nanterre held 16 points advantage in the first half, and had 38-48 at the break with 20 from Riley and 17 from Robinson. After the break Bonn tied it at 59-59, but never took the lead as Nanterre answered with a 1-15 run, then sealed the deal down the stretch. Riley finished with 26 points, and Robinson had 24 points and 8 assists. Mam Jaiteh and Jeremy Nzeulie each scored 15 in victory. Rotnei Clarke scored 21 points for the hosts, and Aaron White collected 15 points and 11 rebounds. Florian Koch scored 12, Tadas Klimavicius 12, and Jimmy McKinney netted 10 in defeat.

Riley and Robinson got it going from the start. A pair of threes from Terrance Campbell and first three from Riley opened 7-18 lead after only 4:37 played. Eugene Lawrence was the early scorer for the hosts, and Clarke made a second chance basket for Bonn. Riley buried a three for Nanterre, before Robinson scored last 8 points in the first quarter, including back-to-back threes, helping Nanterre to 13-29 lead. A triple from Nzeulie opened 16-32 early in the second, but Clarke answered with a triple, McKinney also buried one from long range and Klimavicius scored twice to cut it to 24-32. But after a short rest on the bench, Robinson and Riley came back into the game, and took over the scoring for the visitors again. The duo scored the next 10 points for Nanterre before Campbell’s bucket made it 32-44. Koch, White and Andrej Mangold made baskets for Bonn, but Riley made sure Nanterre goes into halftime with a double-digit margin, 38-48.

Koch and Clarke each hit a three-pointer as Bonn opened the third quarter with a 12-3 run to get within 50-51. Jaiteh and Riley answered with a 0-6 spurt to keep Nanterre in front, but White had a triple and Clarke a three-point play, before a three-point dagger from Koch tied it at 59-59. However, Jaiteh scored four points before the end of third, and another basket at the start of the fourth as Nanterre produced a 1-15 run to pull away again, 60-74. Koch, White and McKinney scored for the hosts, but Jaiteh and Nzeulie combined to score 8 points, including Nzeulie’s three-pointer that made it 71-84. Bonn replied with a 6-0 run, and McKinney hit from downtown to help cut it to 82-86 with 90 seconds remaining. But Riley and Robinson made clutch baskets down the stretch, and Nzeulie rounded out the score with a three-pointer.