A last-gasp win: France gives itself a scare but gets its revenge on Serbia in a friendly match
Leading by a important margin at halftime (+19), France gave themselves a scare but managed to defeat Serbia team at the buzzer (91-90) this Sunday in a friendly competition match. Les Bleus avenged their narrow defeat on Thursday (87-90).
On an evening celebrating their 100th anniversary – which their first game was in April 1926 years ago against Italy – the French team fight until the very last second to avoid spoiling the party. On the verge of defeat after an acrobatic layup by Marko Guduric with 4.7 seconds remaining, they found Jaylen Hoard driving to the basket to snatch win at the buzzer and punish Serbia’s lethargic retreat (91-90).
Three days after their defeat in Belgrade (87-90 minute), Frédéric Fauthoux’s men accomplished their mission but again showed two different teams. The first was thrilling with a steamroller second quarter, featuring pinpoint passes for win Wembanyama (18 points, 5 rebounds) inside and a brilliant three-point shooting performance (7 out of 15) epitomized by Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot’s wrist (20 points, a record for France team).
Paired this time with Jaylen Hoard in the team starting lineup, replacing Rudy Gobert, “Wemby” faded after halftime, just like his teammates. The blue team’s offense became static, and the Serbs feasted on every fast-break chances. After a sloppy start to the second half play, Nikola Jokic (34 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists) found his rhythm, stringing together silky-smooth shots in the paint and tip-in offensive rebounds.
From an 18-point team lead thanks to a three-pointer by Sylvain Francisco (58-40, 23rd minute), the French lead disappeared in a matter of minutes (68-68, 32nd minute). And for the first time in the match, Nikola Jovic put Serbia in the lead. Without Wembanyama, who was brought back to the bench side, Francisco (20 points, 4 assists) took control with a huge three-pointer, another mid-range basket, and a nice alley-oop pass to Rudy Gobert (82-76, 36th minute).
