Telenet Oostende scored its first win of the Eurocup season by outlasting Lukoil Academic 77-83 in a thriller that went down to the final minute in Sophia. The visitors led late 69-76, but Lukoil stormed to within 1 twice in the final minute. However a crucial turnover down 2 with 18 seconds left rued the hosts and Chris Booker iced the Oostende win from the line with 12 seconds remaining. The win lifted Oostende to 1-4, but the team had already lost any hope of reaching the Last 16. Booker paced Oostende with 18 points and 7 rebounds, Kennedy Winston added 15 points, Veselin Petrovic scored 13 and Dragisa Drobnjak 11. Lukoil dropped to 2-3 and could be eliminated later Tuesday if Asvel beats Valencia. Bruno Sundov paced the home team with 14 points, Bozhidar Avramov scored 13, Todor Stoykov 11 and Brandon Heath tallied 8 points and 7 assists.

Stoykov dunked to give Lukoil an early 6-2 margin, but a Petrovic three made it 6-5 and Heath hit from downtown to make it 14-9 late in the quarter. Pavel Marinov and Booker exchanged baskets for 17-16 and with 12 seconds left, Damian Stojanovski hit a deep triple to finish the first quarter at 22-18 for the hosts. Quentin Serron scored for Oostende to open the second quarter. Then the teams exchanged buckets and a layup drained by Drobnjak made it 31-30. Avramov hit a three, but Drobnjak tied the score at 34-34. Petrovic found easy points in the open court for Oostende’s first advantage, 36-38. Another basket from downtown by the veteran Serbian guard fueled the guests to 37-43. Then Lamont Mack went all the way and Dusan Sakota from the free throw line made it 39-45 for Oostende at halftime.

Winston extended the difference to the double figures, 39-49, early in the second half and after a three-point-play completed by Drobnjak, it was up to 41-52. However the hosts responded with an 8-0 run capped by Andre Owens close the gap to 3. Djordjevic and Booker with a jumper from mid range established again a bigger advantage for Oostende, 49-57. Djordjevic nailed another jumper and Bruno Sundov made free throws to get to 52-29. A three-point-play by Winston answered by Avramov from beyond the arc to make it 55-61 before a Kenney jumper made it 55-63 through three quarters. A booker triple boosted the lead to 9 again, but Sundov went to work inside with a pair of baskets – the second after a battle on the offensive glass – to close within 61-66. After Avramov brought the hosts within a 3, Petrovic canned a triple. But the Heath-to-Sundov connection worked for two more scores and a 67-69 scoreline. Winston and Booker fueled the visitors back to 69-76, but Lukoil wasn’t done. Avramov nailed a triple, Stoykov scored in transition and soon Heath made it a 1-point game with 1:04 remaining. Djordjevic and Heath exchanged free throws for 77-78 with 19 seconds to go. Winston was sent to the line and only made 1, but a turnover damaged Lukoil’s chances and Booker iced the Oostende win from the line with 12 seconds remaining.