Eurobasket.com All-Belgian League Awards 2007-08 - Jul 7, 2008
Import of the Year: D'or Fischer (211-C-81) of Euphony Bree Domestic Player of the Year: Sam Van Rossom (188-G-86) of Telindus BC Oostende Coach of the Year: Don Beck (48.1) Playoff MVP: Matt Walsh (197-F/G-82) of TEC Spirou Charleroi All-Imports 1st Team D'or Fischer of Euphony Bree Doron Perkins (188-G-83) Euphony Bree Andre Emmett (196-G/F-82) of Belgacom Liege Basket Damian Cantrell (200-F-76) of Okapi Aalstar Matt Walsh of TEC Spirou Charleroi All-Imports 2nd Team Veselin Petrovic (194-G/F-77) of Telindus BC Oostende Tremmell Darden (194-G/F-81) of TEC Spirou Charleroi Andre Riddick (208-C-73) of TEC Spirou Charleroi John Turek (205-F/C-83) of Gent Dragons Jamar Wilson (185-G-84) of VOO Verviers-Pepinster All-Domestic Players 1st Team Sam Van Rossom of Telindus BC Oostende Christophe Beghin (207-F-80) of TEC Spirou Charleroi Sacha Massot (204-F/C-83) of VOO Verviers-Pepinster Jonathan Tabu (190-G-85) of TEC Spirou Charleroi Odell Hodge (203-F/C-73) of Euphony Bree All-Domestic Players 2nd Team Dimitri Jorssen (212-C-79) of VOO Verviers-Pepinster Jef Vander Jonckheyd (203-F-82) of Spotter Leuven Piet De Bel (208-C-80) of Okapi Aalstar Lionel Bosco (176-G-81) of Spotter Leuven Aleksander Lichodzijewski (202-C-84) of Antwerp Giants Charleroi Wins Championship Charleroi ended their 4-year championship drought, clinching the championship over Bree with a 61-59 win. It was their second road win of the finals. In a rematch of the 2004-2005 finals, this time it was Charleroi who was victorious and won their 7th Championship overall. It was also the first sweep (3-0) since Charleroi beat Verviers in the 2002-2003 season. Onto the game itself now. The first quarter was close, as Charleoi held a 15-14 edge. Neither team took a significant lead, and it was Roel Moors (190-G-78, agency: Court Side) who gave Charleoi the small lead with a pair of FTs. The second quarter was probably the worst 10 minutes of basketball ever played by Spirou Charleroi, as it took them more than 9 minutes to score their first points of the quarter when Andre Riddick (208-C-73, college: Kentucky) finally scored a basket to make it 28-17. It was Michael Meeks (207-C/F-72, college: Canisius) who did most of the scoring for Bree with 6pts in the period. Things kept looking good for Bree when Brian Lynch (198-G/F-78, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Villanova) made a 3-pt shot to up the lead 15, at 32-17, the biggest lead of the game so far. Bree was not able to keep all of its lead in the 3rd quarter and saw Charleroi close the gap to 44-37 at the end of the 3rd. Free throws by Tabu and the scoring of Matt Matt Walsh (197-F/G-82, college: Florida) brought Charleroi to within 3 pts of Bree until Doron Perkins (188-G-83, college: Santa Clara) made a 3-pointer to get the lead back up to 50-44. Charleroi finally reclaimed the lead around the 37 minute mark on 3pt shots by Matt Walsh and Wilkinson, to give their team a 55-54 lead. With a little more than a minute to go, Michael Meeks made another 3pt shot to tie the game at 59 apiece. It was finally Justin Hamilton who, with mere seconds to go, scored the go ahead basket giving Charleroi a 61-59 lead. Doron Perkins missed the desperation 3-pointer for a chance to extend the playoffs. Charleroi went without a loss in the playoffs and is the well deserved champion of the 2007-2008 season. (edited by Jeremy Rubio) Oostende Wins Belgian Cup Telindus Oostende beat Dexia Mons-Hainaut 66-63 to win its 11th Cup of Belgium. The game could not have started any better for Oostende, who took a 17-5 lead at the 6 minute mark of the first quarter. Bree then went on a 9-0 run run to close the gap to 3pts, with a pair of FTs by Ben Ebong making it a 17-14 contest. The margin remained at 3 at the end of the first quarter (20-17). Oostende was not able to keep control of the score, and slowly Mons fought its way back into the lead at the end of the 2nd quarter when Jim Cantamessa made a 3pt shot to give his team the lead at the half, 35-33. Things went from bad to worse when Mons opened the 3rd quarter with a pair of treys from Lenzly and Gray, giving them their biggest lead of the game at that point, 41-33. After Van Rossom and Petrovic narrowed the gap to 2 points, it was Greg Brunners' moment to help his team reclaim the lead with a dunk and a 3-pointer, giving Oostende a 46-43 lead with under 3 minutes to go in quarter number 3. Of course this would not be a cup game if Mons was going to give up this late in the game and, thanks to free throws by Evans, Reinking and Cantamessa, they got even with Oostende in the 29th minute before Chuck Davis scored a free throw of his own to give his team a 1-pt lead going into the final 10 minutes. Oostende took the better start in the last quarter and took a 55-49 lead courtesy of Van Rossom and Ivory. Titus Ivory's last score was followed by layups from Evans and Sullivan before he again with a 3pt shot gave Oostende another 5 pt lead (58-53) at the 35 minute mark. Just when it seemed Mons was about to lose control of the game, they bounced back thanks to scores by Gray and Conlan who tied the game at 61 with 2 minutes to go. Mons even took the lead again in the final minutes on 2 ft's by Ben Ebong, but once again it was Titus Ivory who got his team back on the right track with a 3pt shot made giving them a small 64-63 lead. Maybe more important than the score was Cantamessa's offensive foul caused by Veselin Petrovic to give Oostende possession of the ball in the final moments of the game. After an Oostende time-out, Mons had no option but to foul an Oostende player. Jerry Green (191-G-80, college: Cal-Irvine) was perfect from the line and gave Oostende a 66-63 lead in the closing seconds. Travis Conlan missed the final layup and Oostende came away with a hard-fought Belgian Cup win at the Spiroudome in Charleroi. In a comment to Eurobasket, coach Sharon Drucker said that teamwork and sacrifice were the keys to this win. He also added that he is proud that his team brought the Cup back to Oostende after 7 years. Following is a comment from Oostende Captain Sebastien Bellin: As far as the game i think it was a great win for Oostende but also for Belgian basketball. I think we need to give the Mons fans a lot of credit for the atmosphere they created along with the Oostende fans.. it was two very good teams playing in a great atmosphere and you can only take positive from that for the future of basketball here in Belgium.. as far as Oostende is concerned this Cup win completes on of our major goals for this season and hopefully will generate even more energy for us to complete the last objective we have left this season...' Mons : Ben Ebong 8, Justin Gray 13, Travis Conlan 6, Andrew Sullivan 7, Mike Lenzly 14, George Evans 4, Nate Reinking 4, Jim Cantamessa 7, Jim Potter 0. Oostende : Titus Ivory 9, Veselin Petrovic 8, Jerry Green 15, Chuck Davis 7, Sam Van Rossom 11, Elvir Ovcina 4, Chris McCray 2, Greg Brunner 10, Sebastien Bellin 0. |
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