Basketball: Despite a solid performance, the CBC falls to Orléans in Elite 2

In the 23rd week of the Elite 2 season, the Caen Basket Calvados lost again (70-78) to a strong opponent, Orléans, which was third in the rankings before the game. Sad story for the new head coach, Jean-Baptiste Lecrosnier, who has been in charge for only a month and whose record stands at 2 wins and 4 losses.

A tight game, right up until the last 2 minutes

During the first three quarters, Caen and Orléans played back and forth, with no more than a 3-point difference at the breaks. With a good start, Caen's players showcased the most dominant sequences of the game, but their opponent always appeared to stay in control of their assault. With three minutes remaining, Caen was leading by one point, until Orlean's teams decided to give it all in the clutch, scoring efficiently, while the CBC made multiple mistakes trying to catch up again.

After the game, Lecrosnier talked about the multiple mistakes made by his players: "It was just about focus, and today I saw too many mistakes that gave easy buckets to our opponent". Despite this, the CBC coach has mentioned a "consistent performance, which led to frustration at the end of the game". Following the last two games, against Pau and Vichy, Jean-Baptiste Lecrosnier has now suffered his third defeat in a row with Caen.

"You can't play with individualities"

Also asked about his performance, the CBC's number one, Siyani Chambers, was more moderate than its coach: "In a game like that, you can't count on individualities to unlock the situation", a reference to his 35 points record scoring game against Vichy last week. "We're close in every game and so to come up short every time is obviously frustrating", the American player added. Congratulating Orléans on their win, he added that they "gave a good fight as well and again [they] don't get the result that [they] wanted".

The next game for the CBC is in only three days, on Tuesday, 17th February, against Denain, another top team of the Elite 2. With Evreux's victory against Vichy (75-72), Caen fell back to the 18th position. Before the game, players and staff will meet again on Sunday for a new training session with their newest recruit, Dariel Poirier, "a player with a particular energy and physical power who will surely help the team," according to Lecrosnier.