Even though Donar fought for every point in their 83-80 win over Reyer Venezia, the team did not manage the needed 11-point lead to make it to the European championship.
By Matthijs van Houten / Translation by Traci White
After an 82-72 loss in Italy last week, the Thursday night game in a sold-out MartiniPlaza was Donar’s chance to move on to the championship game against Scandone Avellino. Both teams were clearly perfectly matched: three of the four quarters ended with a tied score.
Donar set up a three point lead in the second quarter, but a shot clock malfunction brought the game to a halt for 22 minutes. The delay did not have a lasting impact on the outcome of the game: The score was 44-41 at halftime, and as the second half kicked off, it seemed that Donar was struggling to find a way to break through the Italian team’s defense.
But Brandyn Curry tapped into a deeper reserve as the fourth quarter got underway. He sank three three-pointers in a matter of minutes and brought the score up to 73-63, but the team could not push it over the top to reach that magical 11 point lead.
Although Donar won the game, they did not win the round, but the hard-fought game was a fitting climax for a season of unprecedented success. Curry was the game’s top scorer with 23 points, followed by Evan Bruinsma with 21. The team has to switch gears now and focus on keeping their national title: Donar will face Rotterdam on Saturday.
