Monaco’s basketball team, the Roca Team, welcomed MoraBanc Andorra to the Salle Gaston Medécin to play a postponed fixture from round six of the the 7DAYS EuroCup tournament. Having bested BC Lietkabelis by some margin in their last European game, the boys in red and white were keen to end the year with a win at home.
Right from tip-off, Roca Team captain Dee Bost drew first blood with a three pointer from deep, which was quickly followed by a reverse layup from Damien Inglis, but Bandja Sy kept Andorra close at 5-4. Thereafter, Monaco found an edge over the visitors, as Wilfried Yeguete, Marcos Knight and Darral Willis combined to produce a 14-9 lead. The game was tightly contested and both sides of the court took turns to change the scoreline, often scoring in quick succession. By the end of the first half the score stood at 30-25 to the hosts.
Andorra wasted no time in catching up to Monaco after the break with a clean 0-7 scoring streak to make it a 32-32 tie. Knight and Choupas Yohan responded with two consecutive three-pointers, but Andorra grabbed the lead back and adamantly retained control of it, right until the end of the third quarter with 40-43.
The fourth and final quarter saw fireworks, as both teams took turns to put more points on the scoreboard. With three minutes and 59 seconds remaining on the clock, the score stood at 56-55, but Bost and JJ O’Brien gave Monaco the edge with a 62-57 score very much in crunch time. From there, the Roca Team only added a two pointer and a free throw, while Andorra broke a sweat trying to catch up. With 8 seconds left in the game and the scoreline at 66-64, Jeremy Senglin had the chance to win the game with a buzzer-beating three-pointer. However, the ball bounced clear off the backboard and away from the hoop, giving Monaco their last victory of the year.
After completing a game that was looking close enough to cause concern towards the end, Monaco have completed their year and the EuroCup regular season with a win worth celebrating. The next time the Roca Team will play in the European tournament will be as part of the final-16 teams on January 12-13, 2021.
