BC Oostende

Basketball Club Oostende, for sponsorship reasons Filou Oostende, is a Belgian professional basketball team. The club is based in Ostend and was founded in 1970. The club competes domestically in the BNXT League and internationally in the Basketball Champions League. Oostende is the most successful basketball club in Belgian history, as the club's honour list includes a record twenty-four Belgian League championships, a record nineteen Belgian Cups and eleven Belgian Supercups.

Filou Oostende
Nickname	BCO
Leagues	BNXT League
Founded	25 May 1970; 53 years ago (1970-05-25)
History	List Sunair Oostende (1970–1999) Telindus Oostende (1999–2008) Base Oostende (2008–2010) Telenet Oostende (2010–2017) Oostende (2017–2018) Filou Oostende (2018–present)
Arena	COREtec Dôme
Capacity	5,000
Location	Ostend, Belgium
Main sponsor	Van Honsebrouck Brewery
President	Johan Verborgh
Head coach	Dario Gjergja
Championships	24 Belgian Championships 20 Belgian Cups 12 Belgian Supercups 2 BNXT Supercup 1 BeNeLux Cup
Retired numbers	1 (10)
Website	www.bcoostende.be
Home Away

History

The club was founded on 25 May 1970 and started playing as Sunair Oostende. The team colors were blue and yellow. BCO – a nickname of the club – started in the Belgian Second Division but promoted in its first season after it took the title. But in the First Division the team relegated immediately. But BCO bounced back and promoted once again and got its final spot in the First Division, as they never relegated since.

In the 1974–75 season the club made its first appearance in Europe, when it played 10 games in the Korać Cup. In 1979 the first trophy was won by Oostende: the Belgian Basketball Cup with Ron Adams as head coach. In 1981 the first national title became a fact for BC Oostende, Roger Dutremble was head coach. The club eventually won 6th straight titles in a row in Belgium. In 1988 the club won the first and only BeNeLux Cup.

Before the 1999–2000 season the club got its first name change, as the name of the club became Telindus Oostende, which referred to the new main sponsor. After the club won some more trophies to add to its honour list, the club got a new arena in the Sea'rena – that was named the Sleuyter Arena after one season^[1] and had a capacity of 5,000 people – in 2005.

Ten consecutive championships (2011–2021)

 

The original BCO logo, used during the 2017–18 season

Before the start of the 2010–11 season the club name was changed in Telenet (BC) Oostende. In the second Telenet season Jean-Marc Jaumin was fired by the club and the Croatian coach Dario Gjergja took over his tasks.^[2][3] After that the club won the national title, by beating Spirou Charleroi 3–2 in the Finals, Game 5 ended in 75–74 after overtime.^[4]

 

The logo of the team when it was known as Telenet Oostende

The championship in 2011 was the start of a nice streak for Gjergja, as BCO won the double in 2012–13.^[4][5] Star player of the team was Matt Lojeski, who was named League MVP.^[6]

In 2013–14, the club won the double once again, as BCO beat Okapi Aalstar 3–2 in the Finals.^[7] Oostende earlier beat Antwerp Giants in the Cup Final.^[8] The Serbian point guard Dušan Đorđević shined for Oostende, as he was the Belgian Cup MVP and the league MVP.^[9][10]

On September 23 (2014), the club retired Veselin Petrović's number 10.^[11]

In 2017, the club won its sixth-consecutive championship.^[12] After the 2016–17 season, main sponsor Telenet left the club in order to sponsor Antwerp Giants instead.^[13]

In 2018, the club set a new record by winning its seventh consecutive championship. [1] In the 2018–19 season, the team was named Filou Oostende after a sponsorship agreement with beer brand Filou, brewed by Van Honsebrouck Brewery.^[14]

In 2019 Ostend became champions again, for the eighth time in a row. They beat Antwerp in the finals.

In 2020 Ostend was declared champions when the 2019–20 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were leading the standings at that time.^[15] On July 2, 2020, head coach Dario Gjergja extended his contract for five more year.^[16] On July 7, team captain Đorđević extended his contract for two more years until 2022.^[17]

On 9 June 2021, Ostend secured their 10th consecutive domestic title. By beating Mons-Hainaut in the final series (3-1) Ostend brought home the 7th double in 10 years, as they beat Mechelen in the cupfinal earlier in the season.

Since the 2021–22 season, Oostende plays in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.^[18]

Sponsorship names

For sponsorship reasons, the name of the club has been frequently changed.

• Sunair Oostende: (1970–1999)
• Orange Oostende: (1999–2000)
• Telindus Oostende: (2000–2008)
• Base Oostende: (2008–2010)
• Telenet Oostende: (2010–2017)
• Filou Oostende:^[14] (2018–present)

Honours

Domestic competitions

• Belgian League

Champions (24): 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1994–95, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018-19, 2019–20^{[note 1]}, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23

• Belgian Cup

Winners (20): 1961–62, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2020–21

• Belgian Supercup

Winners (12): 1981, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021

• Second division :

Winners (3): 1958–59, 1970-71, 1972-73

Regional competitions

• BNXT League
  • Runners-up (1): 2022–23
• BNXT Supercup

Winners (3): 2021, 2022, 2023

• BeNeLux Cup

Winners (1): 1987–88

European competitions

• EuroChallenge

Third place (1): 2010–11

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Filou Oostende roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age G/F 4   Buysse, Simon 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 26 – (1997-08-25)25 August 1997 F 8   Mennes, Joppe 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 20 – (2003-05-20)20 May 2003 G 9   Van Rossom, Sam 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 37 – (1986-06-03)3 June 1986 G/F 11   Salumu, Jean 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 33 – (1990-07-26)26 July 1990 C 13   Tass, Matthias 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 25 – (1999-03-23)23 March 1999 PF 14   Buysschaert, Servaas 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 25 – (1999-03-19)19 March 1999 C 16   Bratanovic, Haris   2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 22 – (2001-04-20)20 April 2001 PF 17   Pintelon, Xander 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 21 – (2003-01-10)10 January 2003 G 18   Verstraete, Matteo 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 20 – (2003-11-12)12 November 2003 F 23   Jefferson, Damien 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 26 – (1997-10-03)3 October 1997 PF 30   Gillet, Pierre-Antoine (C) 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 32 – (1991-04-16)16 April 1991 G 44   Ahmad, Khalil 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 27 – (1996-12-24)24 December 1996	Head coach   Dario Gjergja Assistant coach(es)   Thierry Declercq   Gaëlle Bouzin Legend (C) Team captain (FA) Free agent   Injured Roster Updated: November 18, 2023

Retired numbers

BC Oostende retired numbers
No	Nat.	Player	Position	Tenure
10		Veselin Petrović	SF	2005–2014

Season by season

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	Belgian Cup	European competitions
2000–01	1	BLB	1st	Champion	1 SuproLeague	EF
2001–02	1	BLB	1st		1 Euroleague	RS
2002–03	1	BLB	3rd		2 ULEB Cup	RS
2003–04	1	BLB	4th	Runner–up	3 Europe League	EF
2004–05	1	BLB	4th		2 ULEB Cup	RS
2005–06	1	BLB	1st
2006–07	1	BLB	1st		2 ULEB Cup	RS
2007–08	1	BLB	5th	Champion	2 ULEB Cup	RS
2008–09	1	BLB	7th		3 EuroChallenge	RS
2009–10	1	BLB	3rd	Champion
2010–11	1	BLB	4th	Runner-up	3 EuroChallenge	3rd
2011–12	1	BLB	1st		2 Eurocup	RS
2012–13	1	BLB	1st	Champion	2 Eurocup	RS
2013–14	1	BLB	1st	Champion	2 Eurocup	L32
2014–15	1	BLB	1st	Champion	2 Eurocup	L32
2015–16	1	BLB	1st	Champion	3 Europe Cup	R16
2016–17	1	BLB	1st	Champion	3 Champions League	RS
					4 Europe Cup	SF
2017–18	1	BLB	1st	Champion	3 Champions League	RS
					4 Europe Cup	R16
2018–19	1	BLB	1st	Runner-up	3 Champions League	RS
					4 Europe Cup	QF
2019–20	1	BLB	1st	Semifinalist	3 Champions League	R16
2020–21	1	BLB	1st	Champion	3 Champions League	RS

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

•   Ronny Bayer
•   Jean-Marc Jaumin
•   Sam Van Rossom
•   Tomas Van Den Spiegel
•   Matt Lojeski
•   Braian Angola
•   Veselin Petrović
•   Gert Kullamäe
•   Marijonas Petravičius
•   Rimantas Kaukėnas
•   Virginijus Praškevičius
•   Andrius Giedraitis
•   Mirza Teletović
•   Elvir Ovčina
•   Dušan Kecman
•   Ivan Paunić
•   Teo Čizmić
•   Denis Wucherer
•   Jon Robert Holden
•   Tre Kelley
•   Barry Mitchell
•   Carl Nicks
•   Henry James
•   Quinton Ross
•   Vincent Yarbrough
•   Lavor Postell
•   Ed Cota
•   Jason Gardner
•   Toby Bailey
•   Ralph Biggs
•   Rashad Wright
•   Jimmy Baxter
•   Nick Fazekas
•   Eddie Gill
•   Bracey Wright
•   Dwight Buycks
•   Kennedy Winston
•   Ed Rains

References

1. "Sea'rena wordt omgedoopt tot Sleuyter Arena". Nieuwsblad.be. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
2. 13u04 (30 November 2011). "Basketclub Oostende ontslaat coach Jean-Marc Jaumin". Nieuwsblad.be. Retrieved 10 June 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
3. "Gjergja vervangt Jaumin als coach (Oostende) - Het Nieuwsblad". Nieuwsblad.be. 1 December 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
4. Justin Hamilton. "Oostende is basketkampioen na bloedstollende finale". Sporza.be. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
5. "BC Telenet Oostende wint Belgische beker basketbal | Snap!" (in Dutch). Snap.telenet.be. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
6. "Amerikaan Lojeski (BC Oostende) MVP". HLN.be. 16 February 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
7. "Oppermachtig Oostende verlengt zijn basketbaltitel". Sporza.be. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
8. "BC Oostende bekerkampioen basket | Focus & WTV" (in Dutch). Focus-wtv.be. 21 April 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
9. "Dusan Djordjevic verkozen tot MVP van de reguliere competitie". Bcoostende.be. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
10. "Telenet BC Oostende wins the Base Cup 2014 at the Heysel Palais 12". Eurobasket.com. 22 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
11. ROSSEL, PETER. "'BCO voelt aan als familie'".
12. Telenet Oostende is voor zesde keer op rij kampioen in het basketbal
13. TELENET SPONSORT VOORTAAN ANTWERP GIANTS IN PLAATS VAN OOSTENDE
14. "Basketbalclub Oostende stelt nieuwe hoofdsponsor voor". BC Oostende (in Dutch). 31 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
15. "EuroMillions Basketball League cancelled due to coronavirus". 14 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
16. "Oostende keeps Dario Gjergja for five more years". Eurohoops.net. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
17. "Dusan Djordjevic twee jaar langer bij kampioen Filou Oostende". 7 July 2020.
18. "Licenties BNXT League 2021-2022 toegekend". Basketball League (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 July 2021.

Notes

1. The 2019–20 Pro Basketball League season was ended on 13 March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, Oostende were named champions based on standings at that time.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to BC Oostende.

• Official website (in Dutch)
• Eurobasket.com profile
• EuroCup profile
• Basketball Champions League 2019-20 profile