Bakken Bears win 2018-19 Danish Ligaen Championship

The Bakken Bears have successfully completed a three-peat in the Danish Ligaen after winning the 2018-19 league championship. They defeated the rivals Horsens IC in Game 4 of the finals with a convincing 76-91 blowout. This is the Bears’ 15th Danish League championship over the last 20 years and their 16th overall.

The Bears put on a clinic in this one and they would not be denied their shot at closing out the series. As early as the first quarter they dumpstered Horsens IC 13-26. From there, it went from bad to worse for the hosts as the Bears smelled blood and did their best to snowball their lead into an insurmountable mountain that Horsens IC could not scale within the time limit of the second half of the ball game.

After the break, Horsens IC would come out of the gates with much more urgency and even outscored Bakken in the third and fourth quarters. Unfortunately for them, the defending Danish Ligaen champions did just enough to keep their lead safe and intact.

The Bears approached this pivotal Game 4 with a balanced attack on offense with Tobin Carberry leading the charge 15 points. Ryan Ongwae added 13 points of his own, while Ryan Evans and Thomas Laerke chipped in with 11 points, apiece.

Horsens’ offense was heavily weighted on the efforts of two players. Verdan Borovcanin led them with 19 points and seven rebounds and Charles Callison added 17 points of his own. However, outside of those two players, no other yellow shirt was able to crack the double-digit scoring mark.

The Bakken Bears now celebrate another title. The Danish Ligaen is their wilderness and they are the apex predators. Will Horsens IC or another team in the league be able to hunt them down and take the crown? We will see in 2019-20.