Poitiers Basket 86

Poitiers Basket 86, also known as PB86 or simply Poitiers, is a French professional basketball team located in the city of Poitiers, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France. The club competes in the French Pro B league. The home game's are played at Salle de Saint-Eloi except for several matches played at Les Arênes. The players wear white and blue uniforms.

History
Poitiers Basket 86 was founded in 2004, following the merging of two teams : CEP Poitiers and Stade Poitevin. The club began its first season in Nationale 3 with Grégory Thiélin as head coach and ranked at a promising 5th place in the end of the season. The following year, the team is promoted to LNB Pro B. It is the first time a basketball club from Poitiers plays at a professional level. The 2006/2007 season is difficult for the team which finish 13th.

During the 2007/2008 season, Ruddy Nelhomme is named head coach. He keeps the following French players (Costentin, Devéhat, Gomez, Guillard, Maynier) and recruits two Americans from Brest (Younger and Gunn), the experimented Thomas Darnauzan and some young players from the under-20 team (Kanté, Florimont, Dienepo, Dalmat).

In salle Lawson Body, Poitiers begins its second season with the ambition of doing a great second professional season. In the end of the regular season, the team finishes third and gains access to the playoffs but eventually loses in final against Besançon.

In the 2008/2009 season, Poitiers qualifies for the playoffs once again, by finishing second during the regular season. The team won the Final against Limoges and was promoted to Pro A.

The first year in LNB Pro A is a success. The team won its first match away against Nancy. In the end of the regular season, Poitiers is the latest team to access the playoffs, eliminati