Due to an 80-63 away defeat against Ostend, Donar finished sixth in the Elite Gold of the BNXT League. The Groningen team had to put up with the Dutch teams ZZ Leiden and Heroes Den Bosch in the rankings and therefore entered the quarter-finals of the play-offs for the Dutch title.
To become the second Dutch team behind Leiden in the final ranking of the Elite Gold of the BNXT League, Donar had to win against the Belgian Ostend on Friday evening and a defeat of Heroes Den Bosch at Spirou Charleroi was required. Although the Brabanders lost their duel, Donar also failed to win in Belgium.
Hopeless defeat
With a score of 3-4 in the first quarter, Donar was on the right side of the score in Ostend for the last time on Friday evening. The Belgians had a comfortable lead of 23-9 after the first quarter and did not let go. Donar came no closer than a nine-run difference in the remainder of the game. Ostend eventually triumphed 80-63. Donar player Steph Branch was still top scorer with 16 points. His teammate Clay Mounce (11 points) also finished in double digits.
Entering the quarter-final play-offs
Due to the defeat, Donar finishes sixth in the Elite Gold, the competition in which the best five Dutch and Belgian teams participated. ZZ Leiden and Heroes Den Bosch finished just above the Groningen team, so they only entered the semi-finals of the national play-offs. Donar starts the hunt for the national title in the quarterfinals.
It will meet Yoast United next Wednesday evening in Martiniplaza, followed by the game in Bemmel a day later. In the event of a tie, it will be decided on Sunday 7 May in Groningen which team will qualify for the semi-finals of the play-offs for the national title.
Last year, Donar also reached the semi-finals of the play-offs. The later national champion Heroes Den Bosch was 3-0 too strong.