Graphic: Mārtiņš Zaļūksnis
Royal Liège Basket will enter the European North Basketball league with a home game against Zielona Gora on Tuesday, October 17.
Series history: Royal Liège Basket and Zielona Gora will face each other for the first time.
Key matchup: Liège point guard Emmanuel Lecomte is the second best scorer of his team. Lecomte averages 14.8 points and 4.8 assists.
Kevin Tumba is another go-to player. Experienced power forward has averaged double-double figures with 10.2 points and 11.4 rebounds, as well as 2.2 blocks.
Zielona Gora`s guard Novak Musič averages 20.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 33:21 minutes of play.
Musič scored 25 points and dished out six assists in Sunday`s win at Sewertronics Sokół Łańcut.
Center Geoffrey Groselle has accumulated 10.8 points and 10.0 rebounds.
National championships: BNXT league features 20 teams with nine clubs from the Netherlands playing in the Group A and 11 clubs from Belgium playing in the Group B.
Royal Liège Basket (2-3) opened the 2024 campaign on September 22, defeating Belfius Mons (Bergen), 83-69. Liège dropped the first road contest at Charleroi, 71-79, and the next home encounter against Circus Brussels, 59-85.
The team rebounded with a road win at Leuven, 84-78, but suffered a second consecutive home loss at the hands of the 2023 BNXT league finalist Oostende, 78-86, on October 13.
Zielona Gora (1-3) had a rough start at the Orlen Basket liga and posted three losses between September 22 – October 5.
David Dedek`s men opened the PLK win count on October 15, when they outlasted Sewertronics Sokół Łańcut, 89-88, while playing away.
Know your referees
Crew chief: Renaud Geller (Belgium) – referee at the Belgium`s first division from 2003; FIBA referee 2005-2020; EuroLeague referee 2008-2020.
Umpire 1: Michal Sosin (Poland) – FIBA referee from 2019; PLK referee from 2014.
Umpire 2: Joachim Kisiigha (Belgium) – referee from 2007, officiating at the BNXT league from 2020.
Observer: Oskars Lucis (Latvia).
ENBL access: follow the game on YouTube live stream https://www.youtube.com/@ENBLeague/streams