EuroMillions League - Round Six: Proximus Spirou Charleroi defeats BC Telenet Oostende after strong finish in a thrilling Belgian "Clásico"!

Bert and his son attended the Proximus Spirou Charleroi vs. BC Telenet Oostende basketball game at the Spiroudome on Oct. 28th, 2016. The one and only Belgian basketball "Clásico"! They could not have been better seated, at first row right behind the bench of BC Oostende. Nice to follow the speeches, mood swings and pep talks of BCO's Croatian Coach Dario Gjergja during timeouts! Around 5,000 people attended this excellent basketball game in Charleroi, Belgium.
 

Serbian forward Marko Keselj (age 28, 2.06 m) and Belgium's national team member Pierre-Antoine Gillet (age 25, 2.01 m), both injured, were unavailable for BC Oostende and the three Belgian international players Kevin Tumba (age 25, 2.06 m), Loic Schwartz (age 23, 1.95 m) and Ioann Iarochevitch (age 27, 2.06 m), on the injured list for Spirou, did not play in the game.

 

The home side started slowly and did several mistakes in defense, allowing BC Oostende to take the lead in the first period of the contest. The Serbian center Rasko Katic (age 35, 2.08 m) worked hard in the paint on both ends of the court and was helped offensively by his young Belgian mate Vincent Kesteloot (age 21, 2.02 m) who hit crucial shots from long range for the visitors. Spirou managed to soften the blow: the local team of Coach Fulvio Bastianini was only three points behind at the end of the first quarter when the scoreboard showed 19-22.

 

In the beginning of the second quarter, US guard DJ Newbill (age 24, 1.93 m, Penn State '15) nailed 8 points in a row to give some fresh air to the guests. Nevertheless, the visitors looked unable to control the game and their hosts, led by an excellent Brandon Bowman (age 31, 2.06 m, Georgetown '06) reacted very well. Spirou came back in the race and finished just 2 points behind the men of Coach Gjergja at halftime: 35-37.

 

After the break, BC Telenet Oostende looked pretty efficient from all ranges again and, boosted by the efficiency and experience of Serbian player Dusan Djordjevic (age 33, 1.95 m) at playmaking, digged a rather impressive 10-point gap (40-50). Mainly thanks to the talent of its inspired US players and a fantastic performance of Canadian international swingman Jevhon Shepherd (age 30, 1.96 m, Michigan '09) in the third and fourth quarters, the Spirou squad came closer and closer afterwards. The scoreboard showed 53-55 after 30 minutes of play. The duel between the big men Rasko Katic (who represented the Serbian national basketball team in the past) of BCO and Bryan Davis (age 29, 2.06 m, Texas A&M '10) of Spirou was very spectacular and fun to watch.

 

In the middle of the last quarter, the men of Head Coach Fulvio Bastianini took the lead: 59-58. All Spirou players understood that they had achieved a great part of the job already. They finished it afterwards and secured the win. Belgian playmaker Alex Libert (age 26, 1.87 m) hit a crucial basket with only 7 seconds left in the game to offer Spirou and the local fans the win. Fulvio Bastianini looked relieved and happy while Dario Gjergja sounded unhappy about some decisions taken by the referees in the final minutes of the game.

 

It was showtime at the Spiroudome! Spirou eventually defeated BC Oostende: 74-69.

 

Score evolution: 19-22, 35-37, 53-55 and 74-69.
Best scorers:
Spirou: D. Harris 10, B. Davis 9, B. Bowman 18, A. Libert 5, D.J. Richardson 7, N. Marnegrave 9, A. Kemp 2, D. Shepherd 14.
BCO: C. Walden 4, J. Salumu 7, R. Katic 17, K. Boukichou 8, D. Djordjevic 6, M. Jagodic Kuridza 6, V. Kesteloot 11, D.J. Newbill 10.

 

(Pictures: Bert Larsimont and Getty Images)