Spectacular points galore, an incandescent atmosphere and unbearable suspense until the last second of extra time.
The epilogue of the season of Betclic Elite has kept all its promises, offering a rare, suffocating show.
But at the end of this breathtaking duel, it was Asvel who won against Monaco (84-82, ap), Saturday evening in an Astroballe de Villeurbanne transformed into an oven, during match 5 of the championship final.
Under the eyes of Tony Parker, the boss and the talisman of this team - the "Old Lady" of French basketball offers herself a 21st national trophy - the record of its kind -, the third in row after 2019 and 2021 (the pandemic had prematurely ended the season in 2020).
A rare hat-trick in history and more seen in the championship since Limoges between 1988 and 1990.
“Congratulations to Monaco, it was an incredible final, a dream and brilliant final for French basketball, exults TP at the microphone of BeIn Sports.
We mark the history of French basketball.
We ended up with an incredible victory in front of our home crowd…” “We were expecting a tight match, that's nice, continues William Howard, author of a heroic counter and defense in the final seconds.
We didn't give up, we fought to the end, we're going to enjoy it now.
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The curse continues for the Roca Team - nickname of the Monegasques - which has already failed three times in the final (1950 and 2019 against Asvel, 2018 against Le Mans).
Sacred in the Eurocup last year, quarter-finalist of the Euroleague this season, Monaco has still not registered its name on the list of winners of the French championship.
All standing in the stands
If Asvel, in the wake of their victory over the Rock on Wednesday in match 4 (68-85), begins the game at full speed, the Monegasques themselves do not manage to find their rhythm and are quickly overwhelmed, like of this sequence of the Villeurbannais Elie Okobo author of a 3-point shot and a furious dunk from the first seconds.
The gap widened quickly (10-2 then 24-7, 7th).
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Little in spirit offensively for a large part of the meeting, Mike James, the star of Monaco, finds the way of the net in the last act.
With two winning shots in a row and two free throws, he allowed his team to take control of the match, for the first time, at the start of the last quarter (55-61, 32nd).
This battle of the leaders between the two big cars of the championship, the two representatives in the Euroleague, keeps all its promises.
Each point is an uppercut to the opponent's jaw.
The KO is close for the first who will lower his guard.
In the stands, the spectators are all standing.
Already orphaned by the nugget Victor Wembanyama, Asvel finds himself deprived of the 2.21 m of Youssoupha Fall who is injured.
MVP of the match, Elie Okobo, after a coast-to-coast, misses the free throw of the title less than two seconds from the buzzer (75-75).
The two teams will therefore have to go through an unbearable extension to decide.
5 undecided minutes until this incredible interception by Willam Howard which delivers all of Villeurbanne in the dying seconds.
"We can't dream of better, we're writing history, I'm happy for the club," says coach TJ Parker moved with one of his daughters in his arms.
Finally released, the public could invade the floor to celebrate this title with its heroes.
Party time.