Traveling to Italy for the last day of the first leg of the Eurocup, JL Bourg bowed on the floor of Virtus Bologna (83-82) on Wednesday evening. In the absence of Laurent Legname, who remained in Bresse after having tested positive for Covid, it was Gérald Simon who coached the Bressans.
Faced with an ultra-equipped opponent, despite the absences of Milos Teodosic (knee) and Kevin Hervey (knee), the Bressans did better than even game in the first half. Led by seven points at the start of the second quarter (24-17, 11th), they took six lengths in 4 minutes (26-32, 15th), thanks to their good address from afar.
But the Bolognese also set the sights at three-points and turned in the lead at the break (43-42, 20th). Halfway through, JaCorey Williams (9 points) and the Pierre Pelos-Jalen Jones duo (8 points each) carried the JL Bourg in the scoring.
In the third quarter, thanks to his defensive intensity and the slaughter of Jalen Jones, the Bressan club made up the gap (47-53, 25th). But Virtus Bologna took the lead again (60-53, 30th), inflicting an unwelcome 13-0 to visitors.
The latter spent 9 minutes without registering a basket in the game, until Maxime Roos stopped the series (65-56, 34th). But the JL Bourg found the resources to come back to height (66-66, 37th). At 8 seconds from the buzzer, she was only one point behind (81-80), before giving in definitively to the big Italian club.
Saturday at 8 p.m., she will host Châlons-Reims (16th in the Elite) at Ekinox, for her return to the French championship.