By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
First-ever Basketball Champions League win in Turkey for Filou Oostende, 91-85, against Galatasaray Nef Tuesday.
A four-point lead turned into a tie, 82-82, as Keye van der Vuurst de Vries tucked in a huge three-pointer with 34 seconds remaining on the Basketball Champions League Regular Season Gameday 5 contest. The 20-year-old point guard later sank a couple of free throws improving his game tally to 13 points. He also dished out 11 assists shaping his second BCL double-double.
Besides providing the assist in the decisive triple, Tre’Shawn Thurman reset his personal best for the 2022-23 season to 26 points, including nine points in the fourth quarter. Pierre-Antoine Gillet registered 12 of his 17 points in the last ten minutes as the team coached by Dario Gjergja outscored the hosts, 32-24. A lasting original of FIBA’s European club continental competition went from five losses in as many games in Turkey to a huge win.
The Lions led most of the way but fell short of knocking out Oostende, before falling into a late five-point deficit. The comeback was halted by the young Dutch international. Therefore, the W-L tally in Group C is now 3-2. The reigning Belgium champions since 2012 jumped to 2-3 but did not get the tiebreaking advantage, therefore a berth in the Champions League Play-Ins was the prize.
Breein Tyree and Simon Buysse added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the winning side. Captain Dusan Djordjevic was sidelined along with Vrenz Bleijenbergh, Servaas Buysschaert, and Jesse Waleson.
For Galata, Dylan Ennis put up 17 of the team-high 21 points but to no avail. Jehyve Floyd and Sedat Ali Karagulle were not available for head coach Andreas Pistiolis.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League