It’s still not the benchmark game that OLB coach Germain Castano is expecting this season, but maybe it’s the one who marks the birth of his team for good. At the end of a completely crazy scenario, the Orléanais won their second victory of the season in Pro B against Nantes at the Palais des Sports (80-77). And yet, everything had started very badly. A 16-point deficit at the end of the first quarter, which climbs to 24 points in the third round. Opponent domination on the rebound, loss of ball: the Orléanais are struggling to find continuity to come back to score.
But in the last fifteen minutes, everything is reversed. Mutuale and his teammates are starting to hurt, to play hard. Result: it is the Loiretans who become dominant under the racket. And the shots are starting to come in, like Jean-Michel Mipoka, author of 12 points scored during the … last 12 minutes. Then, the irrational happens. The OLB catches up, returns to equality (77-77) for the last possession. Toni Perkovic takes care of the fateful shot and does not tremble: isolation, dribbling to give yourself space, a 3-point warhead, string. Behind, the Nantes people will not recover.
man of the match
Who else besides Toni Perkovic? Twenty points and five fouls for the Croatian who arrived in Loiret this summer, but above all this huge shot at the buzzer to seal the victory for his family. Remarkable composure as oxygen became scarce in the Palais des Sports in Orléans.
sentence of the day
“During the downtime, I knew the shoot was for me and I knew it was going to go. I don’t explain it, I just feel it. I put a dozen in my life shots like this. But I just put the last shot: we must not forget everything that the teammates have done before. We won as a team. The comeback that we achieve, only the right teams can do it“analyzed Toni Perkovic after his winning shoot.
The number of the day
24: the inhabitants of Orleans accused a 24-point deficit in the third quarter. But the collective held on, believing in it until the end. A resilience that paid off with this hard-fought victory and this lovely party with the public at the end of the match.
In the standings, Orléans Loiret Basket goes back to 7th place in Pro B.