Bourg lays the foundation in the first half for a comfortable win
Bourg took care of business versus Aris - and avenged home loss
Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse took care of business in Round 15 of the BKT EuroCup and cruised past Aris Midea Thessaloniki to keep pace with the other teams in the playoff battle while exacting a bit of revenge.
Bourg had three players score in double figures and seven more had at least 6 points in the 51-92 victory in Greece. The French side lost 88-91 at home to Aris in Round 6.
“It was important for us to win here tonight for the future of the competition because the standings are very tight. And the first game against Aris was a loss for us. So it was revenge for us,” said Bourg head coach Frederic Fauthoux. “We are very happy. We did a very good job in the first half.”
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The 2024 EuroCup runner-up put together a strong first 20 minutes and led 26-46 and never looked back for two straight wins. That gave Fauthoux’s team an 8-7 record as it tries to move up the Group B standings while also holding off U-BT Cluj-Napoca.
“It was a good game. We fought hard and that was what we came here to do,” said Xavier Castaneda, who scored 14 points in just 15 minutes of action. “We knew they were a tough team. They like to foul a lot. They fight hard so we had to fight hard as well. And we came out with a victory and that’s all that matters.”
Bourg showed why it is a strong offensive rebounding team with 17 boards off its own misses to lead to 17 second-chance points. Bourg had averaged 12.4 offensive rebounds - ranked fourth in the EuroCup.
The French side’s defense did more than enough, especially hassling Aris’s ball-handlers. The home team committed 21 turnovers against the team that forces the most miscues in the EuroCup - averaging 17.1 turnovers a game with a league-high 9.4 steals. That defense led to 23 points off turnovers, including 18 fastbreak points.