Semi-finals game 1

Good afternoon. I got in this morning around 7:00am from our road trip in Cholet where we played our first game of the semi-finals. It was an unbelievable game from start to finish. We ended up winning 70-68 in OT. Both teams played extremely intense and it got to the point where there were 3 intentional fouls called and some technical fouls. The emotions were running high from the start of the game to the finish. They missed a shot at the end of regulation for the win which lead to 5 minutes of OT. It was a tied game 68-68 with 34 seconds to go. We got the ball inbounds to our 2 guard Yannick Bokolo and he dribbled it across half court and handed it off to me. We ended up clearing out the lane with 6 seconds to go on the shot clock and I drove in and made a scooping right handed lay up to put us up by two 70-68 with 10 seconds to go. They called time out and set up a play. With around 2 seconds to go in the game their big man had a shot about 5 feet from the basket but our 4 man Cyril came out of no-where and blocked the shot at the buzzer, and that was the game. It was a great win for us now that we are leading the series 1-0 we play at our place on Wednesday. If we win on Wednesday we are in the French League Championship for all the marbles. If we lose on Wednesday we will have to go back to Cholet for the last game of the 3 game series. Hopefully we can close out the series on Wednesday. It is going to be another tough game but I am looking forward to having the opportunity to play for another championship. I ended up finishing the night with 12 points (5-6FG, 2-4FT) and 6 rebounds.

I will give another update when we have some highlights or photos from this game or after our next semi-final game on Wednesday. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday afternoon. God Bless you today! (Joshua 1:9)

On to the Semi-Finals

Good Afternoon... I just got back from the beach here in town and am relaxing on the couch and I remembered I haven't updated you on our last game. We had our second game in the first round of playoffs on Saturday down in Nancy. Both teams came out with a lot of energy and it was a close game at half. However, we turned it on in the 4th quarter and we won the game 74-58 which means that we are on to the semi-finals. We play Cholet (who is #1 in our league) on Saturday down at their place. They have home court advantage over us since they are the 1 seed and we are the 4 seed. It will be a great game and we are really looking forward to it. The only bummer is that it is a week away. You know me and liking to play games all the time, I really don't like waiting a week to have to play another playoff game, but thats just how it goes I guess.

Shout out to mama Woodside and AJ back home, they competed in the marathon and 1/2 marathon this past weekend in Fargo and both had PR's (personal records), proud of you both! I will let you know how the game goes on Saturday. That's all the news I have for you right now. I am going to continue to enjoy the beautiful weather that we have over here right now. I hope that you have a wonderful day and God Bless. (Joshua 1:9)

French Cup & Playoffs

Hey there!! Sorry I haven't written on my blog in awhile. I have been spending some quality time with my family that came over and visited for a couple weeks. They left this morning so I thought I would catch you up on everything that has been going on over here. First off we played in the French Cup Championship game and lost by 4 points. We didn't play well at all in the first half and we found ourselves down by 10 points. However, we had a strong 2nd half and came back and actually took a 5 point lead with 4:30 left to go in the game. They hit back to back 3 pointers and took the lead back and they never looked back. We ended up fouling and they made their free-throws down the stretch and we lost by 4 points. I want to say thank you to our fans that went down to Bercy and supported us. We had thousands of fans that came down in 45 bus loads to support us. I really appreciate all the fans that went down and I also want to say thank you to the fans that came out and supported our first round playoff game last night. Its always enjoyable playing in front of you fans. Below are some of the pictures of our fans from our French Cup game in Paris (hint-they are in orange ;))

I also want to fill you in on our game last night. We had our first round playoff game last night at home vs Nancy. We came away with an 84-82 win. It was a great comeback game for us. Right away we found ourselves down by 14 points and nothing was going right for us. We struggled with our assignments on defense and we couldn't find a rhythm on offense. However that changed in the 2nd half. We held them to just 29 points in the 2nd half and we were very effective on offense. We had 5 guys in double figures. The game came down to the wire, I was at the free throw line with 37 seconds to go and knocked down both free throws which gave us a 84-82 advantage. They came down, got fouled and went to the free throw line. They missed both free throws with 30 seconds to go. We had to get a shot off since there is a 24 second shot clock. We missed the shot with 6 seconds left, they pushed the ball up the floor and one of there players missed a contest 3 point shot as time expired and we won the game. Now, we head to their place on Friday and play again on Saturday. That is the basketball updated news that I have for you :).

Like I said before my family left this morning so I will be more up to date on my blogs here on out until the end of the season. I hope you are having a wonderful day back home. God Bless you all!!! (Joshua 1:9)

Regular Season 20-10

Good morning!! I am just getting ready to head down to Paris for the French Cup Championship. We had our last regular season game on Tuesday and we came away with a win, final score being 93-80. We had 3 guys in double figures. I had 28 points (9-14TFG, 6-8FG, 3-6 3FG, 7-10 FT), 6 rebounds, 5 assists. Cyril and Yannick were the other two in double figures and they both had 17 points. It was a great win for us since it secured 4th place in the league and we have home court advantage in the first round of playoffs. Sorry this is short but I have to get to the bus. I will update you on how the Cup Championship game goes. Talk to you later, God Bless (Joshua 1:9)

Highlights from Road Win

Here is the link for some of the highlights from our last road win in Nancy. I keep trying to get the html to work so you can view the video right on my blog but I am not having any luck. God Bless (Joshua 1:9)

http://www.bcm.deltafm.fr/index.php?id=2276

Road Win

It was a great road win on Friday for BCM Gravelines. It was a big win for us because now we are currently in 4th place alone and if we win our last home game we lock up home court advantage in the first round of playoffs. We were tied with Nancy record wise going into Friday nights game, so it was nice being able to get a road win and having a shot at having home court advantage in the first round. We ended up winning 87-72. It was a 2 point game at half but in the 2nd half we played well on defense and we were efficient on offense which helped us extend the lead. It was another very balanced scoring effort on our team. We had 5 guys in double figures. JK Edwards lead the team with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Cyril had 17 points, Juby Johnson and Yannick Bokolo each had 14 points. I had 10 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. It was a great win for our team and we moved the ball well and found ourselves getting great looks. Our record is currently 19-10 and like I said before we are in 4th place alone. Our next game is Tuesday, May 11th at home vs Paris. Paris is fighting for a playoff spot and we are fighting to lock up 4th place so it is going to be a great game coming up next Tuesday.

A couple other FYI's... my mom, aunt, and cousin are coming over here on Saturday and they are staying for a couple weeks. They were planning on coming earlier but the volcano that erupted postponed their flights until now. I am looking forward to some company and it will be a great experience for them. They get to watch a couple games and I will show them around the France country side. Other than that I am doing well and trying to finish out the season strong. I hope you will have a blessed Monday afternoon. Praying for you all!! God Bless (Joshua 1:9).