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 LNB Élite and internationally in the EuroCup.

Established in 1939, the team has been a regular in the Pro A, as well as in European competitions. The team has won five national championships, four French Cups and four Leaders Cups.

History

The Modern Sport Club (1939–1993)

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) The MSB finished third in the regular season and then lost to Orleans in the semifinals. They also won the "As" week (74-64 against Orleans in the final) and the French Cup (79-65 against Nancy in the final at Bercy). Alain Koffi, who started the club, is named the French MVP of the season. But in the Euroleague, the MSB came in last in their group again, winning only two of their 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).

In 2025, Le Mans won its fourth Leaders Cup, tying the record by Élan Béarnais for most titles.

The club and the society The company was founded on September 6, 1993 as a local sports cooperative, and was chaired by Jean-Pierre Goisbault until June 30, 2008. Christophe Le Bouille became president on July 1, 2008. The club has a budget of €6,468,000 for the 2024/2025 season.

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 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.

Equipment manufacturers 1990/1992 : Reebok 1992/1995 : Adidas 1995/1996 : Converse 1996/1998 : Reebok 1998/2001 : Champion 2001/2005 : Fila 2005/2008 : AND1 2008/2014 : Reebok 2014/2020 : Kappa 2020/2022 : Skills 2022/en cours : Puma

Derby History The former Northwest Derby pitted SCM Le Mans against ABC Nantes.

Since 1986, the “Derby de l'Ouest” has pitted Le Mans against Cholet, located in Maine-et-Loire, every season. Since their first clash in the men's N1B division, the two teams have met regularly. Since the 1990–91 season, they have engaged in a fierce annual duel.

Honours Domestic competitions French League Winners (5): 1977–78, 1978–79, 1981–82, 2005–06, 2017–18 Runners-up (4): 1979–80, 1980–81, 2009–10, 2011–12 French Cup Winners (4): 1964, 2004, 2008–09, 2015–16 Runners-up (5): 1970, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2024–25, 2025–26 Leaders Cup Winners (4): 2006, 2009, 2014, 2025 Runners-up (5): 2004, 2007, 2015, 2018, 2026

Season by season SeasonTierLeagueFrench CupLeaders CupEuropean competitions2005–061 Pro A1st Champion 2 ULEB Cup 2006–071 Pro A6th22–15Runner-up 1 Euroleague 2007–081 Pro A3rd26–9 Round of 16 Quarterfinalist 1 Euroleague 2008–091 Pro A3rd23–12ChampionChampion 1 Euroleague 2009–101 Pro A2nd26–10 Round of 16 Quarterfinalist 2 Eurocup 2010–111 Pro A8th14–18 Round of 16 2 Eurocup 2011–121 Pro A2nd23–14 Quarterfinalist Semifinalist 2 Eurocup 2012–131 Pro A6th17–16 Round of 32 Semifinalist 2 Eurocup 2013–141 Pro A5th19–13 QuarterfinalistChampion 2 Eurocup 2014–151 Pro A3rd21–19 Round of 16Runner-up 3 EuroChallenge 2015–161 Pro A3rd25–15 Champion Quarterfinalist 2 Eurocup 2016–171 Pro A12th14–20 Runner-up 3 Champions League 2017–181 Pro A1st29–18 Round of 32Runner-up 2018–191 Pro A 8th21–16Runner-up 3 Champions League 2019–201 Pro A 9th11–14 — 2020–211 Pro A 7th19–16 Quarterfinalist 2021–221 Pro A 9th17–17 Round of 32 3 Champions League 2022–231 Pro A 6th19–17 Semifinalist Semifinalist 2023–241 Élite 11th15–19 Round of 32 Quarterfinalist 3 Champions League 2024–251 Élite 6th 18–12Runner-upChampion 2025–261 Élite6th19-11Runner-upRunner-up3 Champions League

Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

Players Current roster

Notable players

Pape Badiane Nicolas Batum Rodrigue Beaubois Éric Beugnot Grégor Beugnot Yannick Bokolo Nobel Boungou Colo Petr Cornelie Vincent Collet Antoine Diot Makan Dioumassi Hervé Dubuisson Youssoupha Fall Claude Gasnal Mickaël Gelabale Charles Kahudi Alain Koffi Lahaou Konaté Jérémy Leloup Noah Penda Thierry Rupert Amara Sy Pape Sy Terry Tarpey Will Yeguete Jonathan Tabu Mouphtaou Yarou Zack Wright João Paulo Batista Olivier Hanlan J.D. Jackson Pape-Philippe Amagou Sandro Nicević Mate Skelin Gerald Lee Taurean Green Michalis Kakiouzis David Blu Ido Kozikaro Raviv Limonad Richard Hendrix Romeo Travis Nebojša Bogavac Justin Cobbs Taylor Rochestie Obi Emegano Michał Ignerski Egidijus Mockevičius Luka Bogdanović Marko Kešelj Hüseyin Beşok Bobby Dixon İzzet Türkyılmaz Alex Acker Eric Campbell Brian Chase Sam Clancy Cameron Clark Robert Dozier Khalid El-Amin Daniel Ewing Taurean Green Kenny Gregory Jermaine Guice Rico Hill Dennis Hopson Trevor Hudgins Keith Jennings Arthur Kenney Darius Johnson-Odom Larry Lawrence Chris Lofton Matt Morgan Ryan Pearson Hollis Price Mykal Riley Marc Salyers Dewarick Spencer D.J. Stephens Michael Thompson Darius Washington DaShaun Wood Zack Wright Cuthbert Victor

Head coaches André Buffière Bill Sweek Vincent Collet J. D. Jackson Erman Kunter

References

External links Official website Le Mans at Eurobasket.com Le Mans at Keyhoops.com Le Mans at Euroleague.net