Round of 16 preview: Pau-Lacq-Orthez v Telenet Oostende

PAU (FIBA Europe Cup) - Telenet Oostende overshadowed the visiting Pau-Lacq-Orthez in the home leg of the FIBA Europe Cup Round of 16 tie in Belgium and will be taking a nine-point advantage for the on the road to France.

Spurred on by great individual performances by Khalid Boukichou and Dusan Djordjevic, who shared a game-high 17 points apiece, Oostende jumped out to a double-digit lead already in the first half of play en route to a convincing 95-86 victory.

The Belgian side were up by 12 points, but a silly mistake inbounding the ball and a late three-pointer by D.J. Cooper allowed Elan Bearnais to bring the bring the deficit into single-digit territory.

"I feel sorry we made some small mistakes in the end of the game, which prevented us from getting a bigger margin," said Djordjevic who not only scored 17 points, but also added 4 rebounds and 5 assists in 25 minutes of action.

Oostende coach Dario Gjergja, who recently extender his contract with the club for four more seasons, echoed his player's thoughts, but was still proud of his team's result against an athletic French side.

"It would have been better to get a 12-point margin, but I'm happy about the nine-point difference as well. It gives us the opportunity to really go for it, but also keeps us focused," he said in the post-game press conference.

Meanwhile, the situation isn't as favorable for Elan Bearnais. Despite excellent performances from Alain Koffi and Jean Mipoka-Likamba, the French side lacked a good game from star point guard D.J. Cooper, who finished the first game with 13 points and 6 assists, but made just 5-of-14 attempts from the field and turned the ball over 6 times.

"It will be tough to play at home, as we will need to win by 10 points. Of course, it is possible, but we will have to play better. They hurt us inside, getting our bigs in foul trouble. We had a terrible start and allowed Oostende to score too many points. Defense will be very important in the return game," said Pau-Lacq-Orthez play-caller Eric Bartecheky looked ahead to the return game in France.

Although the first-leg advantage puts Oostende in the driver's seat, it is way too early to rule out their French opponents, who have won all five games at Palais des Sports de Pau in FIBA Europe Cup by an average margin of 24 points.

FIBA