Round Three of the 2019-20 EuroMillions League - Group A on Sep. 27th, 2019 - Defensive derby game between Spirou Basket Charleroi and Union Mons-Hainaut

Around 19:00 on Friday, Sep. 27th, 2019, many local basketball fans queued up outside the Dome in Charleroi with the hope to attend a first great Province Hainaut's derby game between Spirou Basket Charleroi and Union Mons-Hainaut in the 2019-20 EuroMillions Basketball League. The attendance was estimated at 2,750 and you could feel excitement among the supporters and enjoy the nice atmosphere in the aisles and on the terraces of the arena. After a minute of applause in honour of a few Spirou fans who passed away over the summer, the game started in a very physical and defensive way. Bert and his son quickly understood that they would not attend a high-scoring game this time. It woud be an understatement to write that the contest was rather defensive. Spirou Basket of Belgian Coach Pascal Angillis faced a hard time in offense during the first quarter and the Foxes of Union Mons-Hainaut did not miss the chance to dig a first gap at 6-12 after 6 minutes of action. Belgian forward Yoeri Schoepen, on the injured list, was missing on the Spirou side. It was a nice opportunity for many fans, observers and analysts to discover talented young US athletes on both sides: forward Moses Greenwood (arriving from Southeastern Louisiana, NCAA), center Josh Sharma (arriving from Stanford, NCAA) and guard Joe Rahon (arriving from Basketball Löwen Braunschweig, Germany) for Spirou Charleroi as well as guard Arik Smith (arriving from Inter Bratislava, Slovakia), power forward Auston Barnes (arriving from Sodertalje Kings, Sweden) and forward Lennard Freeman (arriving from Final Spor, Turkey) for Union Mons-Hainaut. The visitors of Bosnian Coach Vedran Bosnic kept playing efficiently and managed to remain on top at the end of the first quarter: 15-22.

Mainly thanks to Belgium's national team players Alex Libert and Axel Hervelle, Spirou reacted pretty well and got closer and closer: 20-24. US guard Anthony Beane, who already finished last season with Spirou Charleroi, nailed a nice shot to offer his team a 31-29 lead a few seconds before the end of the second quarter. It was nevertheless without counting on former Xavier University alumni Justin Cage. The experienced American forward tied the game at 31-31 on the buzzer, right before half-time!

The crowd enjoyed some nice defensive plays but also witnessed some lack of structure on both sides. Josh Sharma, thanks to his vertical explosiveness, blocked shots and protected the Spirou rim on several occasions. UMH strong man Lennard Freeman showed a few times that he can become the real boss in the paint and grab crucial rebounds. Both Belgian players Stephane Moris for the visiting squad and Ordane Kanda-Kanyinda for the home team spent only a few seconds on the court and, after not meeting their respective staff's expectations, were then sent back to the bench for good afterwards. They will get another chance to perform to the best of their abilities in the next few weeks, no doubt about it! At a quiet moment, the crowd could also hear Spirou Head Coach Pascal Angillis get angry and shout at his players who were literally struggling to set a play: "This is no execution! We are playing f***ing too slow, guys!" Although it is still the beginning of the season and building trust and connections within a team cannot be fully accomplished yet, the coaches cannot tolerate disorganization at this stage of the competition. And disorganization is what the fans at the Dome could see at some point on Sep. 27th indeed...

Despite being less efficient offensively than in the first half, the visitors managed to finish the third quarter on top: 40-44. The Foxes played tough defense and allowed their hosts to score only 9 points in the third period of the game. On the Spirou Charleroi side, solid British player Chris Tawiah (who played for Unger Steel Gunners Oberwart in Austria last season) also showed strong defensive skills. Step by step, you could also notice that other American players could raise their level of play: Auston Barnes and Katin Reinhardt for Union and Anthony Beane for Spirou.

Union Mons-Hainaut began the last quarter with a 4-9 run and it seemed that Belgian guard Anthony Lambot, US playmaker Arik Smith and their mates had done a big part of the job to win the game. The Carolos, with Joe Rahon at playmaking, reacted once more and hit three three-pointers to be back at 53-54. Coach Vedran Bosnic's team kept playing strongly in defense and, when the Foxes' guard Filip Adamovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina hit 5 points in row (a bomb and a pretty lay-up after a nice drive into the paint - his only points scored in the game) in the final minutes, the attendance understood that Spirou could never come in front again that night. The scoreboard showed 58-64 for the visitors after 40 minutes of play and this low-scoring derby was his-to-ry! 

Special mention to Belgian 19-year-old small forward Noa Botuli who scored his first points in the EuroMillions League on that night... Scouts and observers need to keep an eye on him in the future!

Score evolution: 15-22, 31-31, 40-44 and 58-64.
Best scorers:
Spirou: Anthony Beane 7, Moses Greenwood 3, Alex Libert 8, Axel Hervelle 8, Noa Botuli 2, Haris Delalic 8, Josh Sharma 4, Chris Tawiah 8, Joe Rahon 10.
Union: Arik Smith 14, Anthony Lambot 8, Filip Adamovic 5, Auston Barnes 10, Katin Reinhardt 10, Justin Cage 5, Lennard Freeman 9, Lorenzo Giancaterino 3.

Pictures: Karen Ambrose Hickey/isphotos.com; PHOTONEWS; Lukas Droppan 
and Bert Larsimont


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