Leiden Dutch champion

LeidenZorg en Zekerheid Leiden have won their a fourth victory in a row over Aris Leeuwarden to win the Dutch title. Before sweeping Leeuwarden 4-0 in the finals, Leiden had seen off Magixx Wijchen 3-0 in the first round of the post-season and then GasTerra Flames Groningen with the same score in the semi-finals.

Leiden’s ten consecutive post-season wins constitute a new record in the Dutch play-offs.
In the final series, Leiden won the first three games by a margin of one, five and 10 points respectively.
In a thrilling Game 4, the eventual champions were playing on the road and trailed 14-11 at the end of the first quarter, but edged ahead 32-30 by the half-time interval.

The hosts used a 9-0 run after returning from the locker rooms to go up 39-32 but Dutch international Arvin Slagter hit two three-pointers to spark a 12-0 Leiden run that turned the tables around once again.
Leeuwarden made a last attempt to prolong the series and regained the lead, 45-44, on two free throws by Whit Holcomb-Faye but a basket by another Dutch international, shooting guard Worthy de Jong, opened a nine-point gap for Leiden with less than four minutes left on the clock.

With Slagter keeping his cool at the free throw line in the clutch, the guests did not abolish the lead until the final buzzer and clinch a 65-59 win to win the league title in dominant fashion.
Slagter paved the way to the triumph with 23 points on 5-for-9 shooting from three-point range and added three rebounds and three assists, while De Jong finished with 12 points, three rebounds and three steals and Ross Bekkering had a game-high 12 rebounds to go with his four points.
Leiden had finished in second place in the Regular Season, with a 27-9 record, while Leeuwarden had knocked out Regular Season winners Den Bosch in the play-off semi-finals.

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