Antwerp, Brussels - By David Driver/Special Correspondent

Jason Clark dribbled the ball up the court and drove to the basket, connecting on a layup with just less than one minute to play in the fourth quarter as he was fouled.

"Jason Clark!" shouted the public address announcer, sitting in a corner near the baseline of the home team's basket.

Clark, 26, a former Georgetown standout who grew up in northern Virginia, made the free throw and ended the contest with a game-high 36 points.

But the best game of his pro career did not take place in the National Basketball Association or even in the D-League.

While the Hoyas have sent a slew of players to the NBA, Clark is one of several former Georgetown stars who has forged a significant career playing pro hoops in Europe or overseas. He is playing this season in Belgium, where he was leading the league in scoring.

"That was my dream, to play in the NBA," said Clark, who ended his college career in 2012. "It really didn't dawn on me until after my senior year" at Georgetown about playing overseas.

That summer, Clark had a summer workout with the Miami Heat, but it didn't translate into an NBA roster spot. "Calls started coming in from overseas. It was shocking to me. A lot of calls were coming in," he recalls, standing courtside in Antwerp.

Clark began his pro career in Belgium and then played in Germany and Turkey before returning to play for Port of Antwerp in Belgium this season. He was averaging 20 points, four rebounds and four assists per contest through mid-January in a league that requires six Belgians on a 12-man roster.

Belgium is a country of about 12 million people that borders France, Germany, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. Flemish and French are the main languages in a country that is known for its beer, chocolate and waffles.

Clark is playing in Antwerp, famous for its diamonds and was the final home of famous 17th century painter Peter Paul Rubens. Antwerp is about one-hour north by train from capital Brussels. The home to the European Union, Brussels is a diverse, vibrant city not unlike New York City.

The 6-foot-2 guard wasn't the only Georgetown product playing in Belgium this season. Another one is Brandon Bowman, 32, who ended his Hoyas career in 2006 and has since played from Italy to Serbia to New Zealand. Bowman had 21 points against Clark and Antwerp in November.

"He was one of the players I grew up watching," Clark said of Bowman. "It was nice to catch up with him."

Clark grew up in Woodbridge, Virginia and played in high school at Bishop O'Connell in Arlington in the competitive Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. He went overseas for the first time when the Hoyas visited China during his college days. He gives a lot of credit to Georgetown head coach John Thompson III, who provided direction beyond just hoops, according to Clark.

Clark scored 36 points in this late November game - the most in his overseas career - but Aalstar came back from a 12-point halftime deficit to win 82-79 as Clark missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds after a questionable walk call went against him.

"The ball just happened to be falling for me. I would never say it's the referee's fault that we lost the game," Clark told Belgian reporters who speak English well. "I have to move on to the next game. We can't blame it on the travel call."

Clark was guarded much of the game by American Max Landis, a first-year pro who was the Summit League Player of the Year in 2016 with IPFW. "He is a player. He is very experienced and is very talented," Landis said of Clark. "He picks his spots really well."

Clark graduated from The Hilltop in 2012 with a degree in sociology. He now lives in an apartment in downtown Antwerp a few minutes from Lotto Arena, which seats about 5,000 fans.

"They take care of all of that," said Clark, who is provided a car and apartment. "You don't have to worry about much. They show you around. It is a pretty comfortable life here."

Editor's note: David Driver is a free-lance writer who has covered college hoops in the capital region for 25 years. He has also written about American basketball players in Europe for the last 12 years, including three years while living in Hungary with his family. Driver has filed basketball stories from Belgium, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, England, France, Italy and Slovakia. He can be reached at www.davidsdriver.com.