By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
SIG Strasbourg was defeated by Filou Oostende, 92-91, but captured second place in Group F of the Basketball Champions League Regular Season Tuesday.
Texas Tech product and experienced point guard John Roberson led the actual winning side packing 18 points in Gameday 6. Matt Mitchell followed with 14 points, Gaylor Curier had 13 points. Captain DeAndre Lansdowne added 12 points and Jaromir Bohacik chipped in 11 more points.
The team guided by Finnish head coach Lassi Tuovi making a 15-0 sprint regained the lead midway through the fourth quarter. Considering a defeat by five points or less getting the job done, Strasbourg went from a 13-point deficit to a strong advantage heading into crunch time.
Dario Gjergja, boss of the visiting team, was ejected after a couple of technical fouls during the 15-0 run. Assistant Gaelle Bouzin took over but her side was unable to recover with the Rhenus Sport crowd giving that extra touch for the home outlet.
Phil Booth generating a season-high and nearing his career-best with 30 points behind 8/10 field goals went to waste for the visitors. Levi Randolph tallied 23 points as Oostende managed to grab its second win over the BCL-high eight meetings between the two teams but to no avail.
Both sides finished the Champions League Regular Season at 3-3 and will move to the Play-Ins, but Strasbourg earning the tiebreaker in the last round will carry the home-court advantage, while its Group F rival will be on the opposite end of its best-of-three series.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League