June 13, 2007

PARIS - Former Samford basketball standout Marc Salyers poured in 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Roanne to the French national title. Salyers, who starred for the Bulldogs in 1997-2001, was named the MVP of the championship game.

Roanne's previous championship triumph occurred in 1959. The team trailed by as many as 16 points late in the first half in this year's title contest before Roanne used Salyers' brilliant second-half performance to come from behind to defeat Nancy, 81-74.

Nancy looked to be on its way to a famous win at the Palais Omnisports Paris-Bercy after taking a 39-23 lead with only a few minutes remaining in the first half, but Salyers and Company fought back, trailing 39-30 at the break before going on an 11-2 run to start the second half.

The scoring outburst tied the contest at 41-41 with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Roanne later added a game-winning 12-2 surge that helped it gain a decisive 77-72 lead with a minute to play.

The shooting from long range proved to be the winning factor as Roanne finished 10-of-26 (38.5%) for the game and Salyers 4-of-8 (50%) from beyond the arc.

Salyers earned MVP honors for his performance. He also claimed similar honors when Roanne won the Semaine des As earlier this year.

As a top performer at Samford University, Salyers helped lead the Bulldogs to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000. He concluded his illustrious college career with 1,604 career points and is ranked sixth on the school's all-time scoring list.