The Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse duo of Earl Rowland and Zaccharie Risacher lit up a fantastic BKT EuroCup contest between old rivals.
Ageless veteran, mature kid carried Bourg past Buducnost to 4-1
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Earl Rowland, a 40-year old veteran, served up the energy of a teenager. His 18-year old teammate Zaccharie Risacher played with the maturity of a tried and tested stalwart. Together, they inspired Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse to earn a morale-boosting 78-73 home win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica in Group B of the BKT EuroCup on Wednesday.
It was Bourg's first home win in five meetings with Buducnost, the French team's sole previous victory in the series having come in Podgorica, 73-75, in March 2022. Buducnost had won their other game in the Montenegrin capital, 108-80, while it also came out on top in the previous two games in Bourg, 82-86 and 89-92.
Their latest clash produced everything a basketball fan would want: pace, intensity, a barrage of spectacular dunks, bold perimeter shooting, fastbreak excitement and some ironclad defense.
With Buducnost in the driving seat for most of the first two quarters, Rowland came off the bench to steady the ship for Bourg. His wealth of experience had an immediate effect. The playmaker quickly racked up 7 points, including a buzzer-beating triple that cut Buducnost's lead to 38-43 at halftime.
That shot carried the momentum to Bourg's side in the third quarter, with Risacher at the heart of what became a 20-4 run, sinking a flurry of three-pointers that put Bourg in the lead for good at 55-47.
Fittingly, it was Rowland who propelled Bourg to its biggest lead of the night (59-50) with a four-point play, as he drew a foul while nailing a three-pointer off the glass. Then, in the closing stages, Risacher nailed 5 points in a row to give Bourg an unassailable 76-69 lead and force Buducnost into submission.
Few teams boast of such an age spectrum and even fewer are able to rely on the oldest and youngest player on the roster to deliver with such aplomb against top quality opposition. That's exactly what Rowland and Risacher did against Buducnost, and the latter showed in his post-game comments that his feet were firmly on the ground after he registered a personal best of 21 points at the senior level.
"I felt great out there," Risacher, who made 5 of his 6 three-point tries, said at courtside. "We had a tough first half but we stayed together and that's why I was able to make my shots. I am just glad to be a part of this team."
Rowland stressed that the victory left something to be desired.
"The games are only going to get tougher so we have to stay focused. We need to get better," he said. "We won the game and fought it out, but we could have played so much better."
Buducnost coach Petar Mijovic conceded that Bourg's Risacher-driven third quarter onslaught had cost his team a win.
"We dominated the first half but the opening six minutes of the third quarter were decisive, as we faltered at both ends of the court," Mijovic told the post-game press conference. "We didn't stop their quick transition which led to plenty of open shots, while we also failed to create any good looks on offense."