Dexia Mons Advanced to the Eurochallenge Regular Season!

(Ron Lewis - image Mons 9.12.2010)

(FIBA Euro-Challenge Qualifers)

9.29.2010 - Dexia Mons Hainuat 74 vs Trefl Sopot (Poland) 71 (Eurochallenge Qualifer Leg one)
- Ron Lewis - 18 points (4 threes), 3 assists!

10.5.2010 - Dexia Mons Hainuat 73 at Trefl Sopot (Poland) 55 (Eurochallenge Qualifer Leg two)
-Ron Lewis - 13 points, 5 rebound, 5 steals, 3 assists!

Ron Lewis & Dexia Mons Hainuat (DMH for short) of the Belgian League advanced to the 2010/2011 Euro-Challenge Regular Season after defeating Polish club Trefl Sopot (PLK) in the early fall eurochallenge qualifiers.

Leg one of the two game qualifying series was played in Mons, Belgium on September 28, 2010.

In the opening minutes of the first quarter the fans at Mons arena would get a nice look at Ron Lewis in transition when he finished an alley from Ronell Taylor to put Dexia up 4-2. PG Marcus Hatten scored 9 points in the 1st to help Mons to a 23-12 lead going into the 2nd.

It was looking nice at that point, but the team from Poland led by Lithuanian guard Giedrius Gustas responded with a 13-0 run to eventually grab the lead at 32-31 in the 2nd quarter. (tied 37-37 at the half)

Sopot proved that the second period was not a fluke by using a rebounding advantage to lead throughout the 3rd quarter. Mons stayed within striking distance, but could not get over the hump until #11 Ron Lewis hit the go ahead three from the top of the key late in 4th (1:33 mark) to put DMH up 71-69. A Hatten layup would seal the deal a couple possessions later to give Mons the tough 74-71 victory.

While happy with the opening victory, Mons knew they would have to play better on October 5, 2010 in Sopot, Poland to advance to the Regular Season.

In a FIBA two game series, the winner is decided on aggregate points. So a narrow 3 point advantage is not exactly a super comforting feeling going into a tough road contest. In this case Mons either had to win or not lose by more than 3.

Fortunately for fans of DMH, the blue & white of Mons were not interested in playing the points game in leg 2 of the qualifiers.
In the brand new Ergo Arena, Mons again sprinted out of the gates on Sopot in the 1st quarter..this time ending the first period with a 28-12 lead. In Belgium Sopot was able to weather Mons' storm to get back in it, but that run would never come on their home court as DMH continued to pour in buckets en route to a 49-31 half time lead. A 12 point margin was the closest Sopot would come int he 2nd half as Mons cruised to a nice 73-55 road victory.

Mons cleaned up a few things for leg two, namely rebounding and defense. DMH was out rebounded 40-28 in Belgium but it was even at 33 in Poland...and they also did not let Gustas get off with an exceptional game this time (held him to 10 points as opposed to his 18 in gm 1) Lewis had another good game with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals!

(video - first part is a little intro with the Americans Foster, Taylor, Lewis, Hatten & Cage. Then there is a quick little view of the nice Ergo Arena in Poland where Mons played. The first play in the clips is the alley oop from Taylor to Lewis in Leg One. Also there is a tough drive by Ron & the go ahead 3 in the 4th quarter.)



The Eurochallenge Regular Season will begin on November 16, 2010. Mons is slated to play in the 4 team Group H along with two teams from France's top division in Orleans & Nancy, plus Oostende, a familair squad from the Belgian League.

Mons will open up play on the 16th of November in France vs Orleans (schedule)

Domestic League Play - DMH's play in Poland may have been a strong response to their disappointing opener in the Belgian League just a few days earlier. Mons traveled on the road to face Aalstar on October 2nd and just could not stop the hosts in a 84-58 blowout. Dexia had a league bye week following the win in Poland and are now preparing for a fairly big game vs Oostende (same team in their EC grouping) on Oct. 1 to get in the Belgian League win column.