BCO must leave the cup to Limburg United
The national anthem blared through Forest National for the cup final between Limburg United, cupless, and BC Oostende, who could win his 21st copy here. You would say David to Goliath, but we thought that too last year, and then Ostend only beat the Kangaroos in the extreme. About five thousand people in the music temple that has been transformed into a basketball arena, see a Limburg team that opts for speed and shot power against the machine that Ostend is after all.
Ostend starts sputtering but leads halfway
A machine that started a bit sputtering, with a lot of ball losses, and a lackluster finish. Djordjevic took his team in hand, 3-9. But Limburg certainly did not give up. Lambot equalized, Ostend was allowed to start the second quarter with a two-point bonus.
Yannick Desiron then came into the team and turned out to be a real scourge for his ex-team, with six points in a row. Ostend responded with a number of bombs. And when Van der Vuurst aimed wrong, there was Servaas Buysschaert who corrected the error. Conger was the best player on the field before the break. He reached halftime with eleven points to his name, Ostend with 44 and a nice three-pointer from Gillet after fantastic teamwork. 35-44 is the score at halftime.
Limburg United (Nelson) impresses
Those nine points did not last, because Limburg continued to cling on in the third quarter. Ostend missed more than they would like, and in Limburg Nelson drew the sheet more and more to himself. His two free throws narrowed the deficit to three points, 49-52. Van der Vuurst gave the people of Ostend some more breathing room, but his ex-teammate Desiron kept the tension in, with 52-56 we went into the last quarter.
Who else but Nelson closed the gap completely? His 22nd point was good for the 56-56. A bomb from the Finnish international Jantunen seemed to put Ostend back on the right track, but a stupid touch on Brimah’s backboard and the exclusion of coach Gjergja canceled all that. Because Nelson kept scoring, with just over a minute to play, Limburg was five points ahead.
Ostend could not find an answer, and had to watch helplessly as David made it. The first defeat in their own country for Ostend, but immediately a very sour one. Limburg wins the cup final with 79-73.