With three defeats for two victories against the five other best ranked teams in the hen B of National 1during the first leg, the CBC was to take advantage of the arrival of Mulhouse to correct its balance sheet against the “big ones”, this Tuesday, December 6, 2022, at Caen Sports Palace (Calvados). But the first few minutes did nothing to help them in their quest. While Mulhouse returned most of his 3-point shots, Carl Ona Embo and his teammates stalled in terms of address (7-18, 6th).

Demond Watt, tough on the inside

In a room filled as never in the stands since the start of the season, the spectators witnessed a first quarter time missed by their proteges. Florian Pouaveyoun, who arrived in the East this summer from Denain (Pro B), hurt the Caennais with a new long shot (9-21, 8th). After 10 minutes, the CBC seemed touched (12-24).

The short break felt good. Stéphane Eberlin’s men described solutions in defense to generalize the opposing shoots from afar. And above all, the CBC was scoring again! Florian Thibedore showed the way forward (15-24, 11th). In the paint, Demond Watt did the job to close the gap (26-32, 16th). The CBC was still nibbling behind, with again two baskets from its American pivot (33-36, 20th).

The extension for Mulhouse

Back from the locker room, the CBC keeps up the pressure. Lucas Veraghe took a big shot to get ahead (42-40, 23rd), before Demond Watt (him again!) added a 2+1 (45-40, 25th). But in front Mulhouse swelled the muscles in defense and terribly hampered the CBC in their attacks. Finally, the Caennais recovered only one point on this third act (48-50, 30th).

The players looked very tired. The word was with the defenses. At the end of the quarter, Yanik Blanc scored two very valuable baskets for Caen (60-55, 38th). But once again, the Mulhousiens refused to let the match slip away (60-60, 40th). Annoying for the Normans who had several opportunities to score, including the last shot at the buzzer which did not come in…

Head to the extension. Mulhouse started strong with a 9-0 (60-69, 43rd). The Caennais tried everything for everything, but nothing came back like the missed free throws of Carlo Ona Embo and Mounir Bernaoui… Still, 42 seconds from the end, Parfait Njiba scored 3-points ( 66-71, 44th). But Mulhouse finished the job (68-73, 45th).

This defeat against a big Pool B will weigh heavily for the rest of the season. The Caennais now have two defeats behind Mulhouse, and further damage their balance sheet against the “big guys” of National 1. They will quickly have to raise their heads, when they have to challenge Andrézieux, just behind in the standings, from Friday.

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