Tonye Jekiri, Paris Basketball player, had a tough night against Partizan Belgrade. The former Roca Team point guard was limited to 4 minutes in the Betclic ÉLITE final. But unfortunately, his wake-up call came on Paris… As if he wanted to exorcise the demons of a Betclic ÉLITE final where he was often overwhelmed by the ferocity of the French line, limited to only 4 minutes in Match 5, unable to keep up with the pace of the Hifi – Shorts double and all the other furious players of the time.

This time, it was Nick Calathes who dictated the tempo, playing at his own pace in the second half and putting his team on orbit with his impressive basketball IQ. « He did a great job at directing the game », applauded, on EuroLeague TV, the former Villeurbannais Tonye Jekiri, recipient of the MVP of the evening (15 points at 7/10 and 6 rebounds) thanks to his numerous offerings.

« I often pay for his dinners so he says nice things about me », smiled the former Roca Team point guard. « It's been three weeks since we've been playing well and it's been a new good match. Everyone has touched the ball, the score is very balanced and it's in these conditions that we develop our best basketball. »

With 12 points, 10 assists and 17 evaluations, Nick Calathes signed his season records in all domains. And largely contributed to the defeat of Paris Basketball, which completely cracked in the second half, taking a 0-9 to conclude the third quarter and a devastating 4-20 (57-57 to 61-77).

« We managed to create some good open shots in the third quarter but we missed », regrets the Parisian coach, Francesco Tabellini. « We were defending but on the contrary, they made big shots. So we let ourselves be won by frustration, we stopped defending and we started losing the ball. It was a very bad sequence. In the future, we will have to be much more solid and intelligent. »

The future is reduced for the Parisians, beaten 81-90 for their second defeat of the week in EuroLeague. Now surpassed by their opponent of the evening, the capital team falls to 17th place (12v-21d) and has only the receptions of Milan and Maccabi Tel-Aviv to satisfy their public this season on the continental scene…