Due to an 80-63 away defeat against Ostend, Donnar finished 6th in the BNXT League Gold Elite. Groningen had to face Dutch sides ZZ Leiden and Heroes Den Bosch in the standings, thus entering the quarter-finals of the qualifiers for the Dutch title.
To become the second Dutch team behind Leiden in the final BNXT League Gold Elite standings, Donnar had to beat Belgian Ostend on Friday night and was required to defeat Heroes Den Bosch in Spirou Charleroi. Although the Brabander team lost their duel, Donnar also failed to win in Belgium.
Hopeless defeat
With a score of 3-4 in the first quarter, Donnar was on the right side of the score in Ostend for the last time on Friday night. The Belgians led comfortably 23-9 after the first quarter and didn’t give up. Donnar did not come close to a nine-run lead in the remainder of the game. Ostend eventually prevailed, 80-63. Donar’s Steve Branch remained the top scorer with 16 points. Teammate Clay Moones (11 points) also finished in double digits.
Entering the quarter-finals
Because of the defeat, Donnar finished sixth in the Elite Gold Championship, a competition in which the five best Dutch and Belgian teams participated. ZZ Leiden and Heroes Den Bosch finished directly above Team Groningen, so they only entered the semi-finals of the national qualifiers. Donnar begins the search for the national title in the quarterfinals.
He will meet Yost United next Wednesday evening at Martiniplaza, followed by the match at Pemmel the next day. In the event of a tie, it will be decided on Sunday 7 May in Groningen which team advances to the semi-finals of the playoffs for the national title.
Last year, Donnar also reached the semi-finals of the playoffs. Subsequent national champion Heroes Den Bosch was a very strong 3-0.
“Evil tv fanatic. Proud thinker. Wannabe internet trailblazer. Music specialist. Organizer. Hardcore pop culture expert.”