Telenet Giants Antwerp won after a nail biter in Bergen. — © GOYVAERTS/GMAX AGENCY
Third win in a row for Telenet Giants Antwerp. This time in Mons and against a direct competitor for the Elite Gold and a place in the top-5 after the first Belgian round (18 match days) of the BetFirst BNXT League. With 6 out of 10, the Sinjoren are firmly in the top five. The Hainauts count 5 to 11 and must release the roll towards Elite Gold.
Patrick Ceulemans
Without the American center Royce Hamm, Telenet Giants Antwerp got off to a great start in the Mons Arena. Reggie Upshaw and Robbie Rogiers were the offensive spearheads for the Sinjoren and pushed the Sinjoren and after the study round (3-5) to a 5-12 bonus. With a bomb from Spencer Butterfield it went to a 9-19 Antwerp bonus. Bergen started the second shift better and via Charles Moore and after a 7-0 intermediate sprint the connection at 18-19 was a fact. Telenet Giants Antwerp was not upset, defended intensely and dominated the rebound through Jean-Marc Mwema, among others. Roby Rogiers kept scoring in the paint and with swinging basketball the Antwerp team quickly took distance: 22-29 and 27-38 halfway.
The third period was also for Telenet Giants Antwerp. Bergen was more in the game, but it was Jean-Marc Mwema who kept the Giants ahead. The Antwerp captain dropped bombs and led his team after 32-42 to a maximum of 34-49. Bergen didn’t get up to speed, lacked speed so that Telenet Giants Antwerp started the last quarter with a 47-59 bonus. In the final quarter, the Giants gasped. It also struggled with errors and five minutes before the end of the game, Roby Rogiers was definitively out of the game with five errors. That’s all Bergen needed to unpack with a remonte. Via Jure Zabac and Igor Mortant made it 64-68 after 55-64. With one and a half minutes left on the game clock, Keith Braxton made it 70-70.
Telenet Giants Antwerp faltered but Spencer Butterfield dropped an important bomb: 70-73! The final phase was a long nail biter. Thijs De Ridder scored 72-75 and with 21 seconds left on the clock, the team from Antwerp had possession. With free throws from Spencer Butterfield, the deserved win went to Antwerp. Reggie Upshaw (18 points, 10 rebounds), who scored a double-double, was the star at Telenet Giants Antwerp with Thijs De Ridder, Roby Rogiers and Jean-Marc Mwema.
Bergen-Antwerp Giants 75-77
Quartz: 11-19, 16-19, 20-21, 28-18
Bergen: Moore 19, Mintogo 4, Braxton 9, Gavrilovic 4, Zubac 10, Harris 14, Vrabac 4, Mortant 11,
Antwerp Giants: Bradford 12, Rogiers 12, Butterfield 16, Mwema 9, Upshaw 18, Anderson 0, Smout 0, De Ridder 10,
