Dexia Overturn Deficit to Beat Orleans By 7

Quincy Taylor had six points and five rebounds for Dexia

Dexia Mons-Hainaut trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half but battled back to overcome Entente Orleanaise in the EuroChallenge.

Beaten by six points in France in the opener, Dexia prevailed 68-61.

The margin of victory in a very tight Group H has given Dexia a better goal differential in their head-to-head clashes with the French club, which won the first encounter by six back on November 16.

The Belgians faced a 44-32 deficit midway through the third quarter but clawed their way back with a 12-1 run, getting six points from the excellent Ronald Lewis in that spurt.

Dexia didn't take the lead for good until 6:39 remained in the game, though, when Shan Foster knocked down a jumper and Quincy Taylor followed with a basket for a 57-54 advantage.

Crucially, Dexia were able to pad their lead.

They went in front 63-54 before Orleans reeled off five straight points, getting a three-ball from James Reynolds to make it a four-point game and force a Dexia timeout.

When play resumed, Lewis took over.

He scored on a drive and drew a foul on the play.

Lewis made the free-throw to extend the lead back to seven.

After Orleans missed three consecutive shots from the arc, Lewis dunked in transition for a 68-59 advantage.

A Reynolds jumper brought the deficit back to seven and following two missed free-throws by Justin Cage for Dexia, the visitors had a chance to draw closer but Aldo Curti was off target from long range.

Sébastien Bellin gave the French one last chance to get closer after he missed two free-throws with five seconds to go yet Dexia held on for the seven-point triumph.

Lewis finished with 18 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals.

Reynolds poured in a game-high 20 for Entente Orleanaise, who have now lost three in a row in the EuroChallenge.

Quotes Dexia Mons-Hainaut vs. Entente Orleanaise

Orleans Head Coach Philippe Herve:
"I'm very disappointed, because we have held all the winning cards during the first half time, and the first minutes of the second half. After we went ahead with twelve points, I don't know what happened. My team restored Mons to health and people understood at this moment that everything was possible. My guys made multiple turnovers and missed easy shots and our hosts took advantage of the situation to reverse the score. Now I think we must beat Oostende next Tuesday and we'll see against Nancy...because the average will be very important at the end."

Orleans player James Reynolds:
"It was a very tough game with two teams very aggressive in defence but we've had our chances to win when our hosts were doubting. Now, we've got to win twice at home against Oostende and Nancy, but it will not be easy to reach the second round with three teams very near, and close games since the beginning of the pool."

Dexia player Sebastien Bellin:
"We expected such a game, because we knew that Orleans had good players at each post. In fact, despite Bell was missing, other players were at the top level during half an hour, but we showed we were able to compare with the best of the French team. With a good management in the last minutes, we reversed the score and kept just one point to be good at the average between the two teams"

Dexia Head Coach Arik Shivek:
"There was much intensity in the game but I didn't appreciate the way we were playing defensively in the first half. Our hosts easy scored many times without opposition and at half-time I told my guys they have to play differently because we were going straight in the wall. All the players received the message and people saw another game in the second half. Now everything is possible because our average is better than Orleans, but it's not a reason for believing that it's done. We've got to go twice away and I know all the teams can reach the second round."