The mid-season competition was still called the Semaine des As when the Villeurbanne team won the title. It was in 2010. Twelve years and two lost finals later, Asvel enriched their record by dominating Bourg-en-Bresse (83-74) in the final at Saint-Chamond. Only seventh in Betclic Elite, one place behind JL Bourg, the Rhodaniens have made their experience of important meetings speak for themselves, they who remain on three titles of champions of France.
Asvel has never been behind in this final. The players of TJ Parker, brother of Tony, dug their hole in the second quarter (23-8 over this period) and killed every momentum of rebellion initiated by Bourg-en-Bresse. The know-how of the champions made the difference. The Lyonnais slipped into the wake traced by Nando De Colo, elected MVP, and Charles Kahudi, respectively author of 20 and 13 points. “We made the match easy by defending and sharing the ball,” analyzed the second player quoted at the microphone of the L’Equipe channel.
Since the start of the tournament, the Villeurbannais had not yet attracted as much as the losers of the day. The fault of a simpler course: they defeated Victor Wembanyama’s Boulogne-Levallois (72-65) and Le Mans (90-65), two formations decimated by injuries. Opposite, JL Bourg got the better of Monaco in the quarter-finals (102-92) before disposing of Dijon (94-77), who won the last edition in 2020. Frédéric Fauthoux’s men cleared the tournament of the title holder of the Leaders Cup. They did not, however, find the key to the talent of Asvel.