Tangos must be feeling frustrated. The basketball players MSB were beaten 89-94 in overtime by Boulogne-Levallois this Saturday, October 15 in Antarès. Their first defeat of the season, despite a first half dominated by the Manceaux, in a sold-out hall, again for the first time since the resumption of the championship.
A Terry Tarpey injury
The Le Mans basketball players had nevertheless managed to take a 10-point lead at the end of the second quarter. A successful first half but marked by the exit of Terry Tarpey. Hand injured, he must do a radio this Sunday to find out more. On the ground, his teammates give the change, especially Matt Morgan who scores 34 points during the meeting.
But as the clock ticks down, they eventually give in to fatigue and come up against the solid defense of the Metropolitans. If the extension was bitterly torn off by the Tangos, keeping the suspense alive until the last seconds, the additional time was to the advantage of the Ile-de-France residents.
The awakening of the “alien”
Because opposite, there was the new basketball star, Victor Wembenyama, the one who is even nicknamed “the alien” by the legendary Lebron Jame
s. Like his team: if he did not particularly shine during the first part of the meeting, the break was able to wake him up. “The anti-Victor plan worked well, at least in the first half“, admits MSB coach Elric Delord. “We were always chasing him, advancing on him, which put him in a zone of discomfort.”
But the lack of rotation, due to the injuries of Terry Tarpey and Kaza Kajami-Keane have worn out the Sarthois. “We play with seven, so when we still had a bit of leg we showed a lot of good things” explains the MSB coach. “And then after we start to run out of steam between the faults and the players who are hardly out.“
The announcement of this injury also embarrasses Vincent Collet, the coach of Boulogne-Levallois and coach of the France team. Terry Tarpey is due to participate with the Blues in the qualifying matches for the 2023 World Cup in November.