Coach Fauthoux enjoyed outstanding performances from his five reserves in beating defending champion Gran Canaria.
Bodian Massa, Bryce Brown led Bourg’s standout second unit
When Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse went on its 15-0 run late in the first quarter to take charge of the game against defending champion Dreamland Gran Canaria on Tuesday night, it only had one starter in the game. And that starter, Isiaha Mike, took a seat after the first basket in that run was scored.
Yes, Bourg surged ahead with a lineup of Axel Julien, EJ Rowland, Bryce Brown, Maksim Salash and Bodian Massa. And for the game, those five players combined for a +/- of +27!
Bourg head coach Frederic Fauthoux played 10 men in this game. The starters spent a combined 135:26 minutes on the floor, which was 60.2 percent of the overall minutes. They scored a combined 48 points, which was 52.3% of the points.
Each of the reserves was noteworthy, though Brown and Massa stood at the top of the list. Brown scored 17 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting in just 18:13 minutes. The last of those threes gave Bourg the lead for good, breaking an 82-82 tie with a little less that 2 minutes remaining in overtime.
Massa produced 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block for a PIR of 22 in just his fourth EuroCup appearance. Each of those numbers marked a personal best and he did that in 23:48 of playing time. Massa was the star of the extra session, scoring Bourg’s first 4 points as well as the game’s last 2. In between he assisted on the aforementioned Brown triple.
Salash corralled 7 rebounds in less than 14 minutes on the floor. Julien dished 4 assists. And while Rowland did not have good numbers – he committed 4 turnovers and had a PIR of -3, the veteran playmaker was the team’s joint-leader in +/- with +9, meaning Bourg played its best basketball with Rowland on the court.
Bourg will not have it easy going forward. As one of the hottest teams in the competition, now boasting a seven-game winning streak, Bourg is now the standard of Group B and the team everyone will bring its ‘A game’ for. But the key to winning some of those games will be depth and Bourg proved it can rely on its second unit with its performance this week.