More than fifteen minutes before the last buzzer, all World Cup hopes for the Belgians were gone. In order to still grab a World Cup ticket, the Belgian Lions first had to keep their fingers crossed for a stunt by Great Britain against Serbia, but that miracle did not happen. Serbia qualified with a 101-83 win.
Not that the Belgian Lions had a scapegoat with that, because they only took the lead in the opening minute. For the rest it was a whole game of chasing.
A lesser start of the young Belgian Lions – without Obasohan, Mwema, Bako, Gilet, Vanwijn… – quickly broke them. The Turks punished three fast breaks mercilessly.
Manu Lecomte was the only compatriot in double digits with 14 points. With only a finishing percentage of 32.3 percent, a remonte was not an option. A difficult last quarter made it a painful 54-82 for the Belgians.
In the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in August, the young Lions, who received their chance today from national coach Dario Gjergja, will have another opportunity to gain experience.
