Antwerp Giants flush bad weekend with a big win
Telenet Giants Antwerp completely flushed its defeat against Leuven Bears last Sunday with a big win against Brussels.
Patrick Ceulemans
Antwerp Giants had to make up for it after last weekend’s “outrageous” defeat to Leuven Bears. The victim was Brussels. The team from the capital just missed a stunt at champion Ostend last Saturday, but was nothing more than a plaything against Telenet Giants Antwerp. “Great and especially important this win. We now especially have to confirm Sunday in the Lotto Arena Liège. That is the game of the calendar year and we absolutely have to win it,” said Giants coach Christophe Begin. With 8 out of 12, the Metropool team will remain in the top three of the BNXT League for the time being.
Yet Telenet Giants Antwerp had completely missed its start. The Sinjoren lacked sharpness in defense and were also too static in attack. Max Kouguere, Sergio Llorente and Pape Badji didn’t need more to push Brussels to a 15-9 and 18-11 bonus after 7-5 with quick basketball. The Giants did not find the rhythm in the first quarter and faced a 25-18 deficit after the first slide.
envy
With Niels Van Den Eynde and Niels De Ridder, the Sinjoren showed speed and extra anger beforehand. With scores from Roby Rogiers, the match at 29-29 was a fact. Markel Brown received 36 Telenet-37 Giants spectacular dunk to the 43-46 with bonus. Halfway through the Giants, despite weak strength, still pulled 45-50 towards the dressing room.
Telenet Giants Antwerp came out of the dressing room sharp. Defensively, things were fine now and Elvar Fridriksson, Matt Tiby and Markel Brown were the inspirations for the 50-60 and 50-71 bonus. Brussels suffered many ball losses against the now stiff Antwerp defense and after three quarters it went to a 52-80 lead.
The final quarter is not a re-emergence of a weak Brussels. A scorching dunk of the 18-year-old Thijs De Ridder, fast and attractive play by the Giants and a leading role for Niels De Ridder, who was Antwerp’s best player with a double-double (16 points 10 rebounds). Dennis Donkoren was the century before the Giants and was therefore allowed to treat a round.
BRUSSELS: Llorente 11, Deroover 0, Nouhi 0, Hazard 4, Jarvi 5, Badji 10, Tshibangu 0, Ekamba 7, Kouguere 15, Pouedet 0, Vucica 13
TELENET GIANTS ANTWERP: Fridriksson 15, Smout 0, Tiby 17, Van Den Eynde 5, T. De Ridder 6, N. De Ridder 16, Rogiers 7, Hands 8, Bruin 13, Krutwig 4, Mwema 4, Donkor 8