Dexia Beat Antwerp In Thriller

Antwerp Giants travelled on Tuesday night for a Belgium battle at Dexia Mons-Hainaut and suffered a 77-73 defeat.

In a EuroChallenge Last 16 game, Timothy Black had 34 points for the visitors but it wasn't enough as they suffered a second painful loss in Group J.

Quincy Taylor scored 25 points for the winners and Marcus Hatten had 21 along with six assists, eight rebounds and two steals.

Dexia forced Antwerp to commit 19 turnovers, and they also benefitted from the Giants' profligacy at the free-throw line.

While Mons sank 26 of 38 (68%) at the stripe, Antwerp were only 12 of 20 (60%).

Reeling from the news that Bryan Hopkins requires a knee operation next week that will sideline the American for months and still smarting from last week's overtime loss at home to Pinar Karsiyaka, Antwerp put up a great fight.

With just under six minutes to go, the Giants led 64-62 after Darnell Wilson made the second of two free-throws.

Following a one-of-two effort at the line from Peter van Paassen for Dexia and then a Wilson turnover, Taylor connected from behind the arc.

Hatten followed with a lay-up and Dexia had the lead for good although Black and Antwerp kept the pressure on.

A Black basket reduced the deficit to 71-70 with less than two minutes to go.

Neither side managed to score on their next two possessions.

After Hatten and Black each made two free-throws in the final minute, Dexia coach Arik Shivek called a timeout.

When play resumed, the hosts' Shan Foster had his shot blocked by Wilson but the home side got the ball back and Hatten drew another foul.

He converted both attempts for a 75-72 lead.

With 11 seconds remaining, Dexia fouled Roel Moors who made the first but missed the second.

Hatten got the defensive rebound, was fouled and made two more from the stripe for the four-point triumph.

Quotes Dexia Mons-Hainaut vs. Antwerp Giants

Justin Cage, Dexia player:
"Despite the injuries, we started well in the game, but in the second and the third quarters, we didn't play as expected and we were obliged to wait until the last five minutes to make the difference. It wasn't easy to stop Black, but in the end we got the victory with an important rebound and some free throws in money time..."

Arik Shivek, Dexia coach:
"It was a funny game with a lot of lead changes during fourty minutes. Once again,my players seemed to be unable to keep calm in the important moments and this situation obliged us to run after the score in the third quarter. It's always important to stay unbeaten at home. Now,we're going to try to win one away, because the Turkish team have already won two times. We'll see against Novo Mesto, because maybe the average will decide the second place."

Timothy Black, Antwerp player:
"We've had many times the opportunity to secure victory during the game, but in the end we made them a present thanks to [our] turnovers. I think [our] nineteen turnovers were the key of the game! In the fight for rebounds we were weight for weight, but in the last minute Dexia won important fouls and finally they won a game we could have won instead! Now it will be difficult to reach the third round having two defeats but we'll play the last games with energy."

Eddy Casteels, Antwerp coach:
"It was the same game as last tuesday against Izmir because we could have won and we...lost. In Mons, once again, we had many up and downs for fourty minutes, but when we had the opportunity to increase our lead that didn't happen. We couldn't put an important gap between us and them which would have allowed us to make the difference. In fact,we gave the win to Dexia thanks to our many turnovers and the fouls we committed."