Oostende Beat Ventspils To Reach Final Four

Darrel Mitchell came back for game 3 of the series to contribute 15 points and five rebounds in Oostende's win

BC Oostende defeated BK Ventspils 70-63 on Wednesday evening to claim the last spot on offer for the EuroChallenge Final Four.

The Belgian side bounced back from last week's double-overtime defeat in Latvia and won the Game 3 decider in front of their own fans.

Oostende appeared to be pulling away after half-time when they opened a 39-31 lead but the visitors' Janis Strelnieks hit a jumper and a lay-up and Brandon Hunter followed with a basket to cut the deficit to 39-37.

Dusan Katnic followed with a pair of free-throws to ignite an 7-0 run that put the hosts back in the ascendancy.

Caleb Green had the last five points in that scoring spurt to make it a 46-37 advantage for the Belgians.

The lead then ballooned to 60-44 midway through the fourth quarter after a Green lay-up.

However, Ventspils battled back and closed the gap to 62-56 on a Hunter lay-up.

After an Oostende timeout, guard Darrel Mitchell, who had missed Game 2 because of an injury but returned to the Oostende squad for the decider, scored on a drive and drew a foul.

He sank the free-throw to take the advantage back to nine.

Ventspils once more reduced the arrears to six when Hunter drilled a three-ball to make it 67-61.

The Latvians fouled Mitchell, who split a pair of free-throws and Ventspils star Oritseweyinmi Efejuku dunked to make it a five-point game.

Green replied with a slam at the other end and finished with a game-high 20 points as Oostende held on to progress.

Quotes Oostende vs. BK Ventspils

BK Ventspils Head Coach Guntis Endzels:
"What an atmosphere to play, great fans here in Ostend. Ostend was just one stepper better in every part of the game and they deserve to go to the Final Four. What a pity to see the players make little mistakes in the key moments of the game, that's were we gave way. It was in the details."

BK Ventspils player Akselis Vaigros:
"Congratulations to Ostend ! Great place to play, great city, great fans, and this would be a great place to organise the final 4. Over the three games, Ostende deserves this. We were tied, Ostende had a bit more luck and like I said they were better."

BC Telenet Oostende Head Coach Jean-Jaumin:
"I want to thank the coach for the nice words. Ventspils made it very difficult for us, they never gave up and they believed in it, just untill the end. Congratulations to my team and my staff, with all the problems because of injuries & illness, it was great to see us fighting as one TEAM. Everybody was helping each other, everybody had a great effort and that is the strength of this team. We are really a strong, competitive, solid group."

BC Telenet Oostende player Matt Lojeski:
"What a fun game to be a part of ! From the beginning of the game we got a lot of energy of our fans. We started out really well, playing our best basketball. The second quarter we were struggling and then Caleb Green came along. He got hot, we gave him the ball a lot and due to him we were able to make a comfortable lead."