When the EuroCup is over, or done and dusted as so many of the British players like to say in the Dexia Mons-Hainaut team, they may be champions.

Or, they may lose in the final, a semi-final or even miss out on the Final Four all together.

You know what they will say, no matter what, when it's over?

"We've entertained," says coach Chris Finch, whose men have on more than one occasion built a big lead in a EuroCup game but had to hold on for a narrow win.

Roger Huggins' experience has been a key to Dexia's success.

"We can be streaky. We like to play in transition, we shoot a lot of threes."

The most important thing for Dexia is that they have won a lot of games.

"The season up to now has been a very good season," Dexia general manager Thierry Wilquin says, "but we can't say until the end of the competition if it's been good or bad.

"I'm very happy that with the success of the team, though, because it brings more and more people."

Indeed, the fans have been turning out in droves to watch Dexia.

They are one of the real surprises heading into their EuroCup quarter-final showdown with CSK-VVS Samara.

After brushing aside My Guide Amsterdam over two legs to reach the qualifying round, Dexia finished top of a group that included Turkish outfit Banvit, Ukrainians Cherkaski Mavpy and Ural Great Perm of Russia.

"It's been challenging," Finch says. "We have been playing some teams in quote un-quote bigger leagues.

"We're having to sit players down because of regulations. In Belgium, we can play with more foreigners, so we're short-handed (in Europe), but doing a good job of competing."

The season has had its share of heart-stopping moments for Dexia.

With just seconds remaining in their penultimate game against Mavpy, Dexia had yet to clinch a place in the quarter-final.

They ended up losing that game, 76-72, but because they had won the first encounter between the two teams, Dexia had a plus-one goal differential.

So despite the four-point defeat, they sealed a place in the quarter-final round.

"It felt like a win," Finch says, looking back. "But also, at the time, we weren't really playing that well. We were in a run of bad games, but in an odd way, that loss or the way we won it (the tie), helped us get back on track."

As tournaments like the EuroCup get to an advanced stage, the competition obviously gets harder and Samara, who play in the Russian Superleague, will present Dexia with a huge test.

"We have a lot of tape on them," Finch says.

"They're very talented, (Marque) Perry, (Alex) Scales and (Yaniv) Green.

"Offensively, they are a little bit better than Perm, defensively maybe not as physical."

Ural Great also advanced with Dexia to the last eight.

As for the British impact on this Belgian side, Finch could not be happier.

Some of these players he will coach later this year with the Great Britain national team in EuroBasket Division A games.

How have they performed in the EuroCup?

"Fantastically," Finch says. "They have been the backbone of our success in Europe. Drew Sullivan has been particularly outstanding in Europe, Mike Lenzly has been a revelation. Last year was stop start for him, but he's been great.

"With Nate Reinking, he's been a model of consistency. Roger Huggins plays 90% of his games for us in Europe, and his experience - 10 or 15 minutes a game, is invaluable. You give him the ball when you need him to make a play and he does."

Finch is really hoping Dexia can use the home-court advantage they will have against Samara and get to the final four.

He admits that when he wakes up every morning, the first thing that pops into his head is whether or not he's covered everything that needs to be covered with his players ahead of that week's game.

"Hopefully we can take the next step and make the final four," he said. "It would be an historic moment."