Brussels Basketball putting Belgian capital back on the basketball map

BRUSSELS (Belgian Euromillions Basketball League) – Brussels Basketball have continued to break new ground in the domestic championship after making the club’s international debut in the FIBA Europe Cup earlier this season.

Having been promoted to the Belgian top flight just four seasons ago, the Serge Crevecoeur-coached team knocked off the higher-ranked Antwerp Giants in the EuroMillions Basketball League Semi-Finals to book the club’s first Finals appearance.

When the up-and-coming playcaller took over at the helm of the Brussels club in 2008, the side were still way down in the third division, but have since then recorded an astronomic rise through the ranks of Belgian basketball.

Fast forward nine years and Crevecoeur and his side are in the elite company of Belgian powerhouse and defending league champions Telenet Oostende as the only teams left in the race for the national title.

Brussels punched their ticket to the Finals with an 87-73 home victory against Antwerp, with Domien Loubry scoring a season-high 25 points and dishing out 5 assists en route to a 3-1 series win.

"I had a hard time in the last couple of games, but I'm a player who keeps trying. The level difference between Antwerp and Brussels is so small that it is tiny details that make the difference," said Loubry after the series-decider.

Historique !!!
They did it.
Le @BrusselsBasket5 est en finale des playoffs. Succès 87-73 vs @antwerpgiants. RDV dans Basket 1 sur la @RTBF pic.twitter.com/yoZ3ri9l57

— Jérémie Baïse (@jeremiebaise) June 1, 2017

Having swept away Proximus Spirou Charleroi 3-0 on the other side of the bracket, Telenet Oostende will be looking for their sixth consecutive domestic championship against Brussels Basketball.

It is quite telling that while the experienced Oostende side went all the way to the FIBA Europe Cup Semi-Finals, European newcomers Brussels Basketball ended already in the Regular Season with a 1-5 record.

In spite of the odds stacked up against them, Brussels Basketball have already showed they are quick learners. Can we expect another upset?

"Getting to the Finals is a complete surprise, but it hasn’t come out of thin air. This victory is totally deserved," said the club's sporting consultant Herman Van den Broeck. "We'll just go to Ostend on Wednesday and you never know what can happen. Every game has to be played first, even those against Oostende."

The battle between David and Goliath in the Belgian EuroMillions Basketball League Finals will start on June 7, with Brussels Basketball starting the best-of-five series on the road in Ostend.

FIBA