Saint-Chamond beat Évreux 89 to 86 in Pro B on Thursday evening, defying expectations in a match that finished tighter than the table suggested. The hosts, sitting fifteenth with three games played, took all three points from the visitors who had started the season unbeaten. It was a result that immediately shifted the mood around both clubs, even if the standings barely budged after one game. And here's the thing — the prediction we made before kickoff came true, with a modest 59 per cent confidence in the home side.
Évreux had looked comfortable in their opening fixtures, winning against Vichy-Clermont and Fos Provence Basket before holding off Poitiers. Saint-Chamond, by contrast, had mixed results — a victory over La Rochelle but losses to Dijon and Caen. The visitors carried that form into this encounter, expecting to add another win to their tally. What they didn't anticipate was a home side that refused to fold under pressure.
The scoreline tells you only half the story. Eighty-nine points to eighty-six suggests a game where either side could have slipped away at any moment. Saint-Chamond kept their side in it through phases where Évreux should have pulled clear. The visitors found no answer when the hosts turned it around after the break, and that single shift decided everything. By then, the momentum had swung too far.
Standings after the match show Saint-Chamond still fifteenth with one win from three games, while Évreux remain second despite their first defeat. The gap between them remains enormous — fourteen places — but this result proves the table doesn't tell the whole story. Évreux will need to regroup quickly if they want to maintain their perfect start. Saint-Chamond, meanwhile, have given themselves something to build on.
Recent form gives context to what happened tonight. Évreux have scored consistently — ninety-three against Vichy-Clermont, ninety-five against Fos — but Saint-Chamond showed they could match that output when it mattered. The hosts had scored eighty-four against La Rochelle and one hundred and eleven against Caen, proving they can produce big numbers. Tonight was simply a case of putting them together at the right moment.
