Monaco beat Kazan on Friday in the second leg final (86-83). The Principality’s club won the first European trophy in its history and succeeded the record of the C 2 in Limoges, winner in 1988. In the first leg on Tuesday, Monaco had won at home (89-87). Three days later, the “Roca Team” once again overtook their opponents in the final seconds, as was also the case in the semi-finals (2-0 against Gran Canaria).

And it was the unexpected US winger JJ O’Brien (16 points) who scored the coronation basket ten seconds from the end, following a throw-in from the touch and a hook shot in the racket, to which were added a foul by Okaro White and a free throw to regain a point lead (84-83). Eurocup MVP of the season Jamar Smith, turned off for thirty-five minutes, missed a three-point shot.

Marcos Knight pocketed his twelfth rebound (for 14 points) of the evening and after the fault to stop the clock, the muscular American back of the “Roca Team” scored the two free throws of the issue five seconds from the end ( 86-83). Smith factor in another tough long shot in the corner to equalize and the gong has retention once and for all, sealing an incredible European season, as Monaco, thanks to their run, also pocketed a Euroleague ticket..

Decisive JJ O’Brien and Marcos Knight

With the awakening of Smith, author of three straight baskets in two minutes, Kazan nevertheless seemed able to equalize in the series – in front of more than 5,000 supporters – and force a support match on Sunday. But Zvezdan Mitrovic’s men never panicked and showed complete serenity throughout a meeting as indecisive and intense as the first, with never more than six points ahead on either side. the other…

Rob Gray, named MVP of the final, was once again the offensive goad (25 points to 4 of 7 to three points) of a team which tied the game on rebounds and lost only seven balls, thrilling his supporters on the free throw line (17 out of 26) but never allowing Kazan’s attack to set pace and ignite the match.

Only six years after its rise in the French elite (2015), after 24 years of absence, and after 24 years of absence, and having the least title of national champion in the charts, AS Monaco becomes the fifth club of the Championship to win a trophy without continental, after Limoges, Orthez, Nancy and Nanterre, but the second in C 2 after the CSP of 1988 winner of the Cup winners’ Cup, of which the Eurocup is the heir.