Bakken Bears win 4th-straight Danish title

Once again the Bakken Bears have asserted and reaffirmed their dominance in Denmark’s Ligaen after sweeping Randers Cimbria in four games in the finals. The fourth and final game of the series was a convincing 81-91 victory on the road for the Bears. This is their fourth consecutive title and the team’s seventh championship over the last eight seasons, missing out only in 2010 (runner-up). Bakken also finished on top of the 10-team league at the end of the regular season with a 24-3 record.

Randers Cimbria were only claim an advantage during the first quarter, where they had a slight edge 23-22. Their lead was short-lived as Bakken stormed into action in the second quarter, thanks to good ball movement and controlling the glass on both ends of the court. The Bears finished the first half of the game up 44-49. After the break however, Randers was completely shut down by Bakken, managing to only put up eight points on the scoreboard against the Bears’ 20! That was the deciding 12 minutes of action for the game. When fourth period came around, Randers fought hard but the 17-point deficit was too wide a chasm for them to traverse.

Charles Burgess did his best to lift Randers Cimbria with his valiant effort. He finished the night with a game-high 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Bonell Colas finished with a solid double-double performance with 10 points and 11 boards, but he missed five of his seven shots from the free-throw line. Chris Nielsen scored 17 points and Mike Nielsen added 16 of his own. The starters played very well this game, but the reserves were not able to bring much to the table.

Kenny Barker led five Bears who scored in double figures with 20 points. Thomas Laerke scored 18 and Nicolai Iversen chipped in 16.