FIBA Europe - The Next Stage is Set for Buckeyes Ron Lewis & Jessica Davenport

(Ron Lewis - Dexia Mons)

Two elite Buckeye professionals are currently chasing coveted European championships in FIBA competitions. In late December, Ron Lewis & Dexia Mons Hainaut of Belgium advanced out of the first FIBA Euro-Challenge Group stage and into the last 16. And Jessica Davenport's Russian club Chevakata would power into the Eurocup 1/8 finals (last 16) right before the holidays.

Despite loss, Mons advances! - Our last entry about Mons was right before their December 21st game with Oostende, the final contest of the first group stage. As you may recall, the last night of Group H play featured a three way tie between Belgian teams BC Oostende (3-2) , Dexia Mons (3-2) , & French Team SLUC Nancy (3-2).

The last FIBA game between Mons & Oostende was rich in story-lines & implications. Not only was this two Belgian teams fighting to advance in a FIBA competition, but both had also played each other just two days earlier in a Belgian League Regular Season game (a Mons W). The winner would automatically qualify to the Eurochallenge Final 16 with a Group 4-2 record. The loser's fate at 3-3 would depend on the remaining group game between French outfits Orleans (1-4) & Nancy (3-2) .

Mons knew it would be tough to defeat Oostende, having downed their Belgian rival just a few days earlier, plus the fact that it was a road outing. And after 3 attempts, a motivated BC Oostende finally won over Mons by a score 75-67 in front of their home crowd. But all was not lost for the foxes of Mons, Belgium. In the final game of Group H, Orleans came from behind to upset Nancy 92-90, propelling Mons into the Last 16! Mons got word of the Nancy/Orleans outcome late in fourth vs Oostende, and both teams were happy by the end of the game. Arik Shivek, the head coach of Mons, called it a great day for Belgian Basketball.

-Fiba Europe 'When Losing Doesn't Feel So Bad'

Mons could not close out the Group Stage with a W, but they were able to advance due to nice three game winning streak prior to the game with Oostende. Ron Lewis came up huge in the big wins over Orleans & Nancy, scoring 18 points in each game.

(Clip of Ron Lewis' game sealing dunk vs Nancy in France!)


Ron Lewis Dunk vs SLUC Nancy in Eurochallenge 12.14.2010
Uploaded by BuckeyeBallersTV

Final 16 - The schedule for the next stage is set. Mons is now in Group J of the last 16 with another Belgian team Antwerp, Slovenian club KK KRKA, and Karsiyaka of the Turkish league.

The first game of the Final 16 is on January 18 vs KRKA in the country of Slovenia. Mons will then host the familiar Antwerp Giants of the Belgian League at home on the 25th.

Final 16 Schedule

Davenport & Chevakata cruise to the next stage - The road through the FIBA Eurocup has been much easier for Jessica Davenport and Chevakata. The team out of Vologda, Russia cruised through their first six games of the competition, winning by an average of 33 points per game!

So far, Chevakata has already defeated teams from the countries of Bosnia, Lithuania, and Croatia. They now have a home & home series with Italian club Umana Reyer in the next stage. (Game one is on January 13)

Eurocup Women Format

Chevakata schedule