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Le Mans Sarthe Basket

Le Mans
Le Mans logo
NicknameMSB
LeaguesPro A
Founded1939; 85 years ago (1939)
HistorySCM Le Mans
(1939–1993)
Le Mans Sarthe Basket
(1993–present)
ArenaAntarès
Capacity6,023
LocationLe Mans, France
Team colorsOrange, Grey, White
     
PresidentChristophe Le Bouille
Head coachGuillaume Vizade
Championships5 French Championships
4 French Cups
3 Leaders Cups
Websitemsb.fr

Le Mans Sarthe Basket, commonly known as MSB or Le Mans, is a professional basketball club that is from the city of Le Mans, France. The team plays in the French League and internationally in the Basketball Champions League.

History

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The Modern Sport Club (1939–1993)

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In 1928, French businessmen, Léopold Gouloumés arrived at the city Mans and founded the food association: the Société des Comptoirs Modernes. Like many other industries at the time, him and Bernard Gasnal, founded their own sport club called Goulou Club in 1938. But in September 1939 the Second World War broke out and the men were needed to fight. With the male absent, women decided to persuade the Goulou Club into creating a basketball team for them.

In 1941, the French government prohibited sport clubs to use the name of an industry so the Goulou Club changed its name to Modern Sporting Club.

In 1952, Le Mans frills won the title of champions of France. Then following that success Bernard Gasnal founded a men's team. In 1963 the team joined the elite.

The following years from 1969 to 1970 was very successful, they won the French Cup in 1964 and the French League championship in 1978 and 1979.

After the euphoria of the European games, the club was struggling to survive due to the rising dominance of CSP Limoges and Pau-Orthez

The SCM existed after the MSB was created and was concerned about the amateur part of the association.

In continuation (since 2008)

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The 2008–2009 season will be more prosperous for the club. In addition to a third place in the regular season followed by a semi-final playoffs (defeated against Orleans), the MSB makes a superb double in gleaning the week of "As" (74-64 victory facing Orleans in the final) then the French Cup (79-65 victory against Nancy in the Final at Bercy). Best of all, Alain Koffi, whom formed the club, is elected the French MVP of the season. However, in Euroleague, the MSB finished again last in their group with two thin victories in ten games.

Despite the departure of several executives in the off season such as Alain Koffi or Nicolas Batum, the MSB plays always the leading roles in the league in 2009 – 2010 because after having a long time to be the first of the regular season, the club finally finished behind Cholet. The two teams meet in the championship final, but Cholet wins the derby at the top (81-65). Le Mans compete in the Eurocup but are eliminated on the wire in the first round. In 2014, the MSB won the Cup leaders.

Since 21 May 2014 the MSB has been trained by Turkish Erman Kunter, former coach of Cholet. He took over succession from JD Jackson. The season is mixed, particularly marked by a heavy defeat in the derby home against Cholet Basket (61-82). Committed in Eurochallenge, the MSB won their first two games against the Belgians from Antwerp Giants (72-66) and Finland KTP Basket (71-52) before a heavy on the floor of Pallacanestro Biella, Italian D2 club ( 82–64).

The club and the society

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The company was founded on 6 September 1993 as a Society of Mixed Economy Sports Local and chaired until 30 June 2008 by Jean-Pierre Goisbault. Christophe Le Bouille became president on 1 July 2008. In 2007 The company had a budget of 5.5 million euros.

Furthermore, another structure dedicated to marketing, is also under the name of MSB Promotion. It is she who is responsible for the communication around the club's image.

The coat of arms, the colors, and the supporters

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The jersey worn by the players are tango and gray. Tango is inherited from the ancient Moderne Sporting Club.

The logo has existed since 1993 and the acquisition of the new professional status of the team. It uses the colors of the club, accompanied by three letters MSB (acronym of Le Mans Sarthe Basket) written in white. In the summer of 2009, the MSB changed the coat of arms and opted for a lion showing claws and out of the logo, symbol of the feline. The addition of an animal blasonnant the team who follow the custom of other French teams like Pau Orthez and Nancy.

The official group of supporters are called the felines. This exists in the form of an association and follows the club on certain displacements. They even give a reward to the most outstanding players called the reflection feline.

Derby History

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The western derby opposes the two best clubs in the north west of France. Since 1986, it opposed every season of the Le Mans team to that of Cholet, located in Maine-et-Lorie. Since their first encounter in N1B male division, the two teams met regularly. They deliver from the 1990–91 season, a diligent and annual duel. That makes twenty years that the two teams have met each season. The former North West derby was more "balanced" and opposed the SC Le Mans at ABC Nantes. The two teams are in particular the two favorites of the trophy, Sarthe Pays de la Loire Basketball where often a first division outsider is invited.

Honours

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Champions (5): 1978, 1979, 1982, 2006, 2018
Runners-up (2): 2010, 2012
Champions (4): 1964, 2004, 2009, 2016
Runners-up (1): 2017
Champions (3): 2006, 2009, 2014
Runners-up (3): 2004, 2007, 2015
Winners (1): 2008
Champions (1): 2009

Season by season

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Season Tier League Pos. W–L French Cup Leaders Cup European competitions
2005–06 1 Pro A 1st Champion 2 ULEB Cup RS
2006–07 1 Pro A 6th 22–15 Runner-up 1 Euroleague RS
2007–08 1 Pro A 3rd 26–9 Round of 16 Quarterfinalist 1 Euroleague RS
2008–09 1 Pro A 3rd 23–12 Champion Champion 1 Euroleague RS
2009–10 1 Pro A 2nd 26–10 Round of 16 Quarterfinalist 2 Eurocup L16
2010–11 1 Pro A 8th 14–18 Round of 16 2 Eurocup L16
2011–12 1 Pro A 2nd 23–14 Quarterfinalist Semifinalist 2 Eurocup RS
2012–13 1 Pro A 6th 17–16 Round of 32 Semifinalist 2 Eurocup RS
2013–14 1 Pro A 5th 19–13 Quarterfinalist Champion 2 Eurocup RS
2014–15 1 Pro A 3rd 21–19 Round of 16 Runner-up 3 EuroChallenge QF
2015–16 1 Pro A 3rd 25–15 Champion Quarterfinalist 2 Eurocup RS
2016–17 1 Pro A 12th 14–20 Runner-up 3 Champions League R16
2017–18 1 Pro A 1st 29–18 Round of 32 Runner-up
2018–19 1 Pro A 8th 21–16 Runner-up 3 Champions League R16
2019–20 1 Pro A 9th1 11–14 Round of 32
2020–21 1 Pro A 7th 19–16 Quarterfinalist
2021–22 1 Pro A 9th 17–17 Round of 32 3 Champions League 2QR
2022–23 1 Pro A 6th 19–17 Semifinalist Semifinalist
2023–24 1 Pro A 11th 15–19 Round of 32 Quarterfinalist 3 Champions League PI
^1 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

Players

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Current roster

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Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Le Mans Sarthe Basket roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
G 1 France N'Doye, Abdoulaye 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 26 – (1998-03-09)9 March 1998
G 2 United States Buchanan, Tray 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 83 kg (183 lb) 26 – (1998-11-02)2 November 1998
G 4 France Simonovic, David 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) 19 – (2005-07-27)27 July 2005
G 9 France Delaunay, Leopold 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 23 – (2001-11-14)14 November 2001
SF 10 France Grasshoff, Loïs 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 20 – (2004-09-07)7 September 2004
SG 14 United States DiLeo, David 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 27 – (1997-02-28)28 February 1997
PF 15 France Yeguete, Will 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 101 kg (223 lb) 33 – (1991-10-16)16 October 1991
C 34 Netherlands Van Den Beemt, Mathias 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 23 – (2001-06-04)4 June 2001
F 35 United States Thomas, TaShawn 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 109 kg (240 lb) 31 – (1993-02-27)27 February 1993
F 44 Cameroon Narace, Williams 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 27 – (1997-03-17)17 March 1997
Head coach
  • France Guillaume Vizade
Assistant coach(es)
  • France Antoine Methieu
  • France Jordan Bernard
  • France Romain Zwicky
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured
Updated: August 10, 2024

Notable players

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See also: Category:Le Mans Sarthe Basket players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria

To appear in this section a player must have either:

  • Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
  • Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
  • Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

Head coaches

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References

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