Belgium: No undefeated teams in Ethias League
Belgium – Competition is heating up in Belgium’s Ethias League as no team stands with an unblemished record. Even last season’s back-to-back Champions Base Oostende are 2-1 to start the regular season. They were downed in the third round match against the Antwerp Giants. Six teams have formed a pack with identical 2-1 records. They are Oostende, Leuven, Antwerp, Aalstar, Liege and Mons Hainaut. We will see who will rise to the top and distance themselves from the rest.
October 19, Okapi Aalstar vs. Leuven Bears, 89-93
Aalstar lost to the visiting Bears and the win was a solid one. Leuven controlled the action in the paint and the general pace of the game. Aalstar trailed Leuven by 11 points through the first three frames and fought hard with a rally in the fourth, but the Bears were able to hold strong and keep the lead.
Recently signed Tu Holloway (182 cm, Xavier’12) showed why he was great preseason addition with 27 points and seven assists to pace his team. He did not carry the load on his own. Holloway got great support from fellow American import Bradford Burgess (198 cm, VCU’12) who filled the stat sheet with 18 points, 12 boards, 4 treys and 4 steals. The team’s domestic center Yannick Desiron (206 cm) was a monster in the middle, converting on eight of his nine attempts from the two-point range, accounting for a big chunk of his team’s 52 points in the paint. All of Leuven’s starters managed to hid the double digit scoring clip as Jason Westrol (191 cm, Bentley’10) and Jonathan Dubas (202 cm) chipped in 13 and 10 points respectively.
Okapi Aalstar had a three-headed attack, but it was the American duo of Derek Raivio (190 cm, Gonzaga’07) and Da’Sean Butler (201 cm, West Virginia’10) who combined for 52 of Aalstar’s 89 total points. They launched their offense from long range. Raivio finished with 27 points while knocking down five threes, while Butler added 25 points and made three of his shots from downtown. Their one-two punch was not enough as they failed to get more support from other teammates. Lee Cummard (201 cm, BYU’09) contributed 12 points, but the rest could not get their offense in gear. Coach Brad Dean will likely make some adjustments when Aalstar faces Antwerp on October 27.
October 20, Brussels Basketball vs. Base Oostende, 68-86
Oostende’s victory dropped Brussels to 2-2, while keeping themselves in contention for the upper tier of the standings. The blow-out victory came off the effort of Oostende’s Ryan Thompson (198 cm, Rider’10) who piled on a game-high 20 points that came with four assists and two steals. Thompson got help from Polish swingman Mateusz Pontika who had an excellent all-around game with 16 points, six boards, and led the way on the defensive end with four steals. They were able to force Brussels to commit 19 turnovers for the game, accounting for Brussels’ trailing for the entire contest. Oostende got a good boost off their bench as domestic player Pierre-Antoine Gillet led the reserves with 14 points of his own.
To their credit, Brussels never gave up and fought til the bitter end, even outscoring their opponents in the final frame. It’s just that Oostende had built too much of a lead for them to overcome. Brussels displayed a balanced offense with many of their players contributing in the effort. They were led by rookie Brandon Ubel (208 cm, Nebraska’13) scored 14 points while adding eight rebounds and three steals. Colt Ryan (196 cm, Evansville’13) and Geoffrey Hockins (188 cm) added 11 points apiece.