Back at Gaston-Médecin, the Roca Team hosted JL Bourg for the 9th day of the Betclic Elite. Objective: regain leadership in the championship.
AS Monaco Basket was back on their court after four away games in the last ten days. In a well-filled Gaston-Médecin for a Sunday evening, Monaco challenged the players of Bourg-en-Bresse, eighth in the Betclic Elite. And this, without their star Mike James, suspended for three games following his ejection against Le Mans last week.
As against Le Mans, the game started strongly for the Roca Team. The connection between Elie Okobo and Alpha Diallo worked wonders for the first five minutes. However, Monaco has the bad habit of losing their way as the minutes progress. Bourg caught up after being ten points behind. Adam Mokoka stood out with seven points scored in the first quarter. The visitors weren’t dominant but managed to keep close to the Monégasques on the scoreboard (28-27).
More active on offensive rebounds, the AS Monaco Basket players drew fouls from the Bressans to regain a nine-point lead. At a slow pace, Vassilis Spanoulis’s men were once again caught up and found themselves in penalty trouble too quickly. It was a perfect opportunity for the visitors, who caught up once more. The Principality’s coach brought his stars back on the court. Elie Okobo, showing leadership, disrupted the Bressan defense with three-pointers while drawing fouls. On the other hand, Bourg-en-Bresse didn’t capitalize on the penalty advantage due to a low free-throw percentage and let Monaco pull away again in the game. Despite a very good performance by Kevin Kokila (ten points, seven rebounds), the Roca Team logically led at halftime (52-44).
Elie Okobo delivers for the Roca Team
Monaco came back on the court with strong intentions. After a miraculous save by Nemanja Nedovic, Matthew Strazel hit a huge three-pointer. It wasn’t enough to impress JL, who did the job under their basket. Jaron Blossomgame, struggling that night, was quickly called back to the bench for a fourth foul in 25 minutes.
The game intensified. Nikola Mirotic, shooting 100% until then, attempted to calm the comeback attempt by the fiery Bressans, especially Kevin Kokila, who was in all of JL’s plays. The visitors came back to within two points, which frustrated Vassilis Spanoulis. The coach brought back his magic duo, Elie Okobo and Alpha Diallo. The Roca Team regained speed in their play and pulled away once more (71-64).
In the last ten minutes, JL accelerated and troubled the Monégasques. Despite Kevin Kokila’s injury-forced absence for a few minutes, Bourg could rely on their bench to regain the lead and go up by five points (73-78). In contrast, the players from the Principality appeared completely apathetic, as seen with Kevarrius Hayes, Jaron Blossomgame, and Daniel Theis. It seemed like the scenario for a Roca Team defeat was unfolding, reminiscent of their last encounter against JL in May, where they lost 73-100.
Nevertheless, the top scorer of the Betclic Elite came through during the crucial moments. With ease, Elie Okobo brought his teammates back into the game. Unstoppable, the French international scored fourteen points in five minutes to reignite the suspense. A duel emerged with Adam Mokoka, another player from the French national team. On one side, the Roca Team’s point guard (28 points, one rebound, one assist), and on the other, JL Bourg’s shooting guard (23 points, 14 rebounds, two assists). It was ultimately Adam Mokoka who made the difference with a final killer three-point shot, well assisted by the inevitable Kevin Kokila, who had returned to the court.
The Roca Team led for nearly the entire match but ultimately fell on their court (89-91) with two seconds remaining and let Strasbourg take the lead in the Betclic Elite. The Monégasques will need to respond next Sunday against Paris at home. Before that, the Roca Team will host the Turkish side Anadolu Efes Istanbul in the Euroleague on Wednesday.
