By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
A fairy tale season for Paris Basketball ended with the club from the French capital beating JL Bourg in the EuroCup finals and getting a spot in the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
The final score in Game 2 was 89-81 (2-0) and Paris completed the season losing just one game in the competition, a new record with 22 wins.
EuroCup Finals and Season MVP TJ Shorts with 22 points, five assists, and six rebounds led the way as Paris managed to get some distance in the fourth quarter and kept it until the end, leading by 11 (87-76) entering the last minute.
Mikael Jantunen scored 15 points, Nadir Hifi added 14 points, and Tyson Ward had 10.
As Jantunen said: “I’m just grateful to be allowed to be part of this type of group. We worked hard all year long, and we knew what we could do. We just had to go out there and show it, and I think we just did that.”
The Midas touch
“It’s overwhelming”, said Paris coach Tuomas Iisalo who last season led Bonn together with TJ Shorts in the Basketball Champions League trophy, “it was worth it, but very few understand how much effort, how many sacrifices we made in the project in order to succeed in the first year”.
For the losing side, which led at halftime by four (46-42), Isiaha Mike had 16 points, Jeremy Morgan scored 14, while NBA top prospect Zaccharie Risacher had an off night with two points and two turnovers.
The two teams entered the last period with Paris leading 64-63 and with four minutes left the guests, created a 7-point advantage (78-71).
THE MVP
“It is amazing. I don’t know, I’m at a loss for words,” Shorts said after the game. “This has been a long journey, this is something we talked about at the beginning of the season. I’m just grateful to everybody who stepped out on the court and contributed to this win. From the coaching staff, the players, and the people in the office who greet us every day. This is not only for us, this is for the city of Paris.”
Photo credit: EuroCup