The Cinderella story from Austria dances on as Swans Gmunden advanced to the ULEB Cup elimination rounds in its first season in the competition after seeing off the Antwerp Giants 80-69 on Tuesday. Veteran scoring machine Deteri Mayes scored a season-high 32 to lift Gmunden to a 5-4 record in Group E, which secured the team third place in the group and a spot in the next round. The Austrian champs started strong and led by double figures in the first period before a 13-1 charge at the start of the second gave the hosts an overwhelming 35-17 advantage. The lead held strong at 41-26 at halftime and Antwerp failed to get any closer than 7 at any point in the second half, allowing head coach Bob Gonnen’s side to celebrate in style. Matthias Mayer and Ian Boylan added 13 points apiece and big man Kevin Johnson finished with 10 points and 9 rebounds for the winners. Ian Hanavan led Antwerp with 18 points, Ryan Sears added 12 and Kris Sergeant scored 10 points in defeat.

The Swans came out firing away as Peter Hutter opened the scoring from downtown. Sears answered for Antwerp, but the hosts scored the next 9 points with Johnson netting 2 baskets to take a big lead. Baskets from Yves Dupont and Brandon Gay cut the gap to 5 before a Mayer triple gave Gmunden a double-figure lead. Hanavan and Boylan traded baskets before Dupont made it 22-14 after 10 minutes. Mayes had the hot hand as the second period got underway, scoring two quick baskets as the Swans scored 8 straight points during a 13-1 run to give them more than double the Giants’ points, 35-17. Baskets by Lee Wouters and Sergeant didn’t help much as Mayes pushed the Swans to a 41-26 halftime lead. Gay tried to ignite an Antwerp comeback at the start of the second half and three-pointers from Sears and Mladen Sekularac got the visitors within 9. Mayes continues to fend off the Giants and keep the Swans in control, even as Thomas Lamont made it 50-43 late in the period. A Johnson basket restored a 55-45 lead at the end of the quarter. Mayes scored his teams first four buckets of the fourth quarter to keep the lead intact at 63-51. Antwerp seemed to tire while Mayes carried on with another basket and a triple as Gmunden eyed history. Hanavan’s last efforts served to only pad his stats as the hosts celebrated the win and a spot in the ULEB Cup elimination rounds.