BCO had to win at least once when visiting the Antwerp Giants to have a chance of winning that fifteenth consecutive national title. And with that attitude and the confidence of the home win on Saturday, BCO went to a seething Lotto Arena.
But after ten minutes it suddenly became silent. Ostend started the game furiously and after the first quarter it was already 11-22. The home team then held on for a while, but it didn’t get any closer. BCO entered the locker room with a 33-44 lead.
Even after the break, the Ostend train seemed to continue to thunder, at one point the Giants even faced a sixteen-point gap. But with support from the crowd and a number of three-pointers, the home team fought back completely.
Ostend seemed to lose it a bit, many free throws went wrong and the score was even completely reversed to 71-70 for Antwerp. But BCO proved resilient and in an exciting final they once again took the upper hand.
Ostend eventually won with 76-81 and can therefore cool the champagne a bit. On Thursday they will get their first chance at that famous fifteenth title in a row in their own COREtec Dôme. And if it doesn’t win, there will be a rematch on Saturday in the Lotto Arena.
That can’t go wrong anymore, right?