FIBA Europe Cup 2017-18 - Round Five - Regular Season Group G: Belfius Mons-Hainaut (BEL) defeated by Demir Insaat Buyukcekmece Basketbol (TUR) on Nov. 14th, 2017

Nice crowd at the mons.arena on Day 5 of the FIBA Europe Cup Group G regular season... A basketball game with a band playing during 40 minutes and with enthusiastic fans is truly enjoyable. After having enjoyed a delicious Belgian waffle, I could sit just a few rows behind the Demir Insaat bench and get ready for the tip-off! The game started at a rather slow pace and with many ups and downs. In the first quarter, the large attendance present at the mons.arena actually saw many more ups from the Turkish side, led by a very athletic and mobile Evaldas Kairys (6'10", 2.07 m, forward/center, born in 1990). The strong Lithuanian international player scored in the paint and convincingly intercepted the ball to offer Demir Insaat a nice advantage from the very beginning of the game. The Turkish team of Head Coach Ozhan Civgin traveled to Mons, Belgium without US point guard Erving Walker (5'8", 1.73 m, point guard, born in 1990, Florida '12). We were told that Walker was injured. It did not help the Belfius squad of Belgian Head Coach Daniel Goethals anyway, unable to come back in the race through the whole first quarter. The visitors were on top after 10 minutes in the game: 15-20.
 
 
In the second quarter, the home team kept trailing behind despite nice efforts by Belgian young player Xavier-Robert François (6'8", 2.03 m, forward, born in 1994) who came off the bench to give some hope to the Belfius supporters. The first rank in Group G was at stake in this game. The second quarter was marked with particular low scoring (11-11) and the visitors were still on top at the break: 26-31. Macedonian international swingman Vojdan Stojanovski (6'5", 1.94 m, guard/forward, born in 1987) looked rather at ease in the second quarter and was able to boost his Demir mates on several occasions.
 
 
The third quarter definitely looked as the most pleasant one. Belfius Mons-Hainaut with its US squad led by Chris Jones Jr. (6'2", 1.88 m, guard, born in 1993, Angelo State '15) and Tre Demps (6'2", 1.88 m, guard, born in 1993, Northwestern '16) tied the game a first time at 31-31, struggled again moments later and were again able to tie the game at 39-39. The home crowd could feel that something was happening and the local Foxes had never been so close to take the lead in this game. They managed to do so at 43-42, forcing Demir Insaat's Coach Civgin to urgently take a time-out. To their General Manager Serdar Caglan's delight, the Turkish visitors finished strongly in the third period. Caglan was a former player at Tofas Bursa, Ulker Istanbul, Fenerbahce and also ITU Istanbul. He attended the game and sat just a few seats next to me. End of the third quarter: 43-49.
 
 
The local fans did hope for a nice reaction of the Belfius players. Despite some nice efforts by Tre Demps, Justin Cage (6'6", 1.98 m, forward, born in 1985, Xavier '07) or even Garlon Green (6'7", 2.01 m, forward, born in 1991, Texas Christian University '13) and great support by the home crowd, the Belgian team could not come back again. The Belfius players suddenly chose wrong options in the last few minutes of the contest and let Demir Insaat finish the work. The Turks eventually won the game 64-69 and took the first spot in Group G. Former NBA player Bracey Wright (6'3", 1.91 m, shooting guard, born in 1984, Indiana '05) -- he played for the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2005 to 2007, was also a high scorer in NCAA in the past and has had a great career in Europe thus far -- and Evaldas Kairys secured the win for the guests. Even if it was a game with rather low scoring, the shooting percentage on both sides remained pretty good: 57.1% for Belfius Mons-Hainaut and 52.9% for Demir Insaat as far as shots from two-point range were concerned. Many turnovers were nevertheless recorded: 16 on the Belgian side and 13 for the Turks. Surprisingly, Demir was outrebounded by their hosts 34-27 in this nice FIBA Europe Cup basketball game. Also to be mentioned: Demir Insaat's experienced player Vojdan Stojanovski got injured and remained seated on the bench during the last minutes of the game. On the Belfius side, Justin Cage had 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 1 block shot that night.
 
 
Score evolution: 15-20, 26-31, 43-49 and 64-69.
 
Best scorers:
Belfius Mons-Hainaut: Tre Demps 16; Garlon Green 12, Chris Jones Jr. 14; Juvonte Reddic 7; Matt Tiby 1; Justin Cage 4; Xavier-Robert François 8; Idris Lasisi 2.
Demir Insaat Buyukcekmece: Evaldas Kairys 13; Vlad Moldoveanu 10; Merthan Mutlu 5; Vojdan Stojanovski 11; Bracey Wright 19; Ogulcan Baykan 2; Diamon Simpson 9.
 
(Pictures: basketnews.lt, Bert Larsimont, fibaeurope.com and gettyimages.com [registered under No 55897902])

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