For his first match of the Euroleague quarter-finals against Mersin, Bourges lost heavily in Turkey (84-56), and will absolutely have to win on the return to keep a chance of reaching the last four.
In the absence of Russian clubs this season in the Euroleague, Bourges dreams of reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 2014. It’s off to a bad start… The Berruyères are opposed in the quarterfinals, in the best of three matches, to the Turks of Mersin, who won group B of the group stage, winning ten games out of fourteen (while Bourges finished fourth in group A with eight wins for six losses). And the first leg confirmed the trend on paper, with a big victory for the Turks, with the score of 84-56. Bourges was not, however, ridiculous at the start of the match. The first quarter ended 15-15 with neither team taking a more than three point lead. Then in the second, the Tango held up to 25-25 (15th). But that was the beginning of the end. Bourges was then never again in front of the scoreboard.
Anderson reduced to 12 points
Mersin returned to the locker room leading 42-34. A gap that did not seem insurmountable, but Bourges never managed to get back into the game. The gap climbed to +15 in the middle of the third quarter, then fell back to +12 at the end of the quarter. However, the last ten minutes have not changed anything, on the contrary. Mercin unrolled his basketball to count up to 30 points ahead (84-54) and finally win by 28. But Bourges had no interest in fighting until the end anyway, since a defeat of 30 or 1 point amounted to the same thing. As often, Yvonne Anderson finished as her team’s top scorer, but with only 12 points on the clock, far from Tiffany Hayes’ 19 on the Mersin side. It will absolutely be necessary to win Friday at the Prado, after a very long trip (but it will be the same for both teams), before returning to Turkey for a possible beautiful.
Berruyère markers: Anderson (12), Duchet (7), Godin (6), Guapo (6), Miyem (10), Alexander (7), Astier (6), Steinberga (2)
