Limoges loses ProA top spot

There was a shock in the French ProA as league leaders Limoges CSP Elite fell to a 74-83 home defeat at the hands of 11th placed Pau-Lacq-Orthez. The loss meant the club lost its grip on the top spot in the ProA and drops to second behind Strasbourg, even though they share an equal 13-7 record.

The league is looking really tight now with five teams locked on a 13-7 record at the top, although this was the chance for Limoges to take sole possession of first place. It was not to be though as the visitors put together a solid game to emerge victoriously. The former league leaders saw their two-game streak snapped by an Orthez team that has now won four on the bounce and is making a push up the ProA standings.

Pau-Lacq-Orthez built the success on the back of a stirring first quarter in which the away team put 27 points on the board while Limoges could only reply with 21. The hosts reorganized in the second period but could not pull away from a persistent Orthez effort and by time the halftime buzzer sounded around the Palais des Sportes de Beaublanc the score was 38-43 in favor of the visitors. Any chance Limoges had of grabbing victory was put to rest in the third as Pau-Lacq-Orthez put together another quality quarter by hitting 22 points. After 30 minutes of play, the scoreboard read 65-52. With a 13 point lead heading into the last stanza Pau-Lacq-Orthez could hold on despite conceding five points of that deficit during the 10 minutes.

Michael Thompson poured in 21 points for the winning team and was backed up by Ahmad Nivens with 17 points and 5 rebounds, while D.J. Strawberry claimed 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Taurean Green nailed a game-high 23 points for Limoges, with Alex Acker getting grabbing 12 points and Adrien Moerman scoring 10 points and getting 6 boards.