After a shaky first half marked by persistent inaccuracy, Le Mans staged a remarkable comeback in the second half. However, their efforts were not enough to prevent Monaco from securing their second consecutive Coupe de France title, following their victory in 2023. The question of whether Monaco would play the final with full intensity was answered immediately.
Having already won the Leaders Cup (also against Le Mans in the final), AS Monaco is now in a strong position to achieve a grand slam. Their qualification for the Euroleague Final Four, with an already depleted squad, presents a different challenge.
German player Daniel Theis, whose participation was uncertain, was included in the starting lineup for the Roca Team and opened the scoring. The Le Mans defense, particularly against Mike James, was not always attentive, allowing Monaco to establish an early lead of 7-3 and 15-9. Despite this, MSB managed to hold on, with the dynamic duo of Travante Williams and TaShawn Thomas bringing the score to 19-17 in favor of ASM at the end of the first quarter.
Serbian player Nemanja Nedovic, who had been absent against Barcelona, entered the game. While Monaco’s shooting percentage wasn’t stellar, Le Mans’ was catastrophic (27% after 14 minutes, with only 1 successful shot out of 13 for the quartet of Grasshoff, Hudgins, DiLeo, and Berhanmeskel), despite often having favorable positions. This contributed to a slight early gap at 27-21. However, Le Mans’ mistakes worsened, pushing MSB back to 36-26 and then 45-29 by halftime. Their 11-for-44 shooting performance was improbable, while Matthew Strazel (13 points on 4/6 shooting, 4 assists) showed no signs of fatigue from the previous day’s efforts.
Although the situation seemed dire, Le Mans regained confidence in their play and especially in their finishing. In a few exchanges, they managed to cut the deficit by half, making it 47-42. With a demanding week behind them, the Principality’s players struggled against fatigue.
The spectacular resurgence was short-lived. An unsportsmanlike foul called on Bastien Grasshoff disrupted MSB’s momentum and reawakened their opponent, who re-established their lead at 64-49, only to concede an 0-8 run in the final moments of the quarter, ending at 64-57.
David DiLeo added to the drama at 64-60. The game became intense, with Le Mans definitively finding their rhythm. A three-pointer from Trevor Hudgins brought the score to 69-68, and he followed up with a two-point shot. The unthinkable happened: Le Mans took the lead with 6:22 remaining, 69-70.
The end of the game was electrifying. Le Mans led by three points twice (69-72 and 71-74), but it was Monaco, through three free throws from Alpha Diallo, who regained the lead with 17 seconds left. Mike James intercepted a bad pass from Travante Williams on the subsequent play and then calmly sank two free throws, making it 86-82. A final free throw from Juhann Begarin dashed Le Mans’ last hopes.
The boxscore is available HERE.
