© RUDY DECLERCK
Without Bratanovic (knee) and Djordjevic (rest as a precaution), Filou Oostende effortlessly sent Landstede Hammers back to Zwolle empty-handed. The Sea Captains picked up twice as many rebounds, handed out twice as many assists and scored almost twice as many points: 97-52. A victory with shine and flair.
Peter Rossel
Zwolle controlled the reconnaissance phase and quickly led 4-11. In the opening minute of the second quarter, Jovanovic already crossed the ten-unit mark: 27-16. After a Buysse bomb, good for 32-21, Zwolle requested a time-out. Three-pointers from Thurman and Barcello sent the scoreline close to a twenties, 40-21. Zwolle approached 42-27. A dunk from Pintelon, a coast-to-coast from Troisfontaines and a bomb from Tyree put together a 7-0 that led to the 49-27 scoreline. Halfway through the evening, the twenty-something was on the board.
The third company was not even three full minutes young or Gillet had flamed the thirty-year-old (59-29) with two bombs on the board. They were his first points of the evening, but a duo of crystal clear baskets. After a three-pointer by Tyree (62-29), the Dutch looked for inspiration in a dead minute. To no avail. At the half hour, Landstede Hammers still trailed 33 points (73-40).
Things got even better for the Ostend supporters with an 11-0 run in the opening two minutes of the fourth game slide. Thurman (two bombs), Pintelon (one three-pointer) and Barcello (two-pointer) crossed the forties mark: 84-40.
At 96-49, the Dutch could narrowly avoid the humiliating fifty-something. Ostend won 97-52.
Barcello, one of the four Ostenders in double digits, was the top scorer with 17 points. Bleijenbergh picked up ten rebounds.