The Baskets Bonn lost direct qualification for the next round of the Champions League with an unquestionable performance at AEK BC Athens, especially in the first half.
Head coach Roel Moors’ team unexpectedly lost the last game of the group phase in Athens on Tuesday evening with 65:96 (19:50) and was disappointing in all respects.
There was a lot at stake: only the group winner would automatically get a ticket to the “Round of 16”, while the second place could still qualify for the quarter-finals via Playins.
Bonn with a 19-point cushion
The Baskets went into the game against the Greeks with a very comfortable 19-point cushion. The Bonn team won the first leg in October with 93:74. If there had been a defeat and both teams had the same number of points, the result in the first and second leg of the direct duel would have been decisive.
But people in Bonn didn’t even want to use the slide rule: after the clear defeat at the weekend in the league in Bamberghead coach Roel Moors’ team was looking for redemption in Athens and wanted to win in Athens.
Angelo Allegri back in Athens
Moors was again able to rely on his number 6, small forward Angelo Allegri, who was missing in Bamberg due to knee problems but was in the starting five in Athens.
But the Rhinelanders didn’t get off to a good start again. Defensively, Bonn offered too little resistance in the first quarter, and offensively the Baskets made too many missed throws. After six minutes there were zero points from seven three-point attempts.
Hubb with more points than the entire Bonn team
After eight and a half minutes, Athens Prentiss Hubb had scored ten more points than the entire Bonn team, which was 8:22 behind at the time. The lead dwindled more and more in the first part of the game.
The Baskets entered the second quarter with a 12:24 deficit. Not much changed. On the offensive, the guests acted far too complicated and erratic, while the Greeks played confidently and caught up point by point.
The lead was lost after 14 minutes
It happened in the 14th minute: AEK had made up the lead with 34:14 and was therefore first at that point.
Moors took a timeout immediately afterwards and his team now needed an alarm clock. But his team refused to be shaken up and became increasingly unsure as Athens dominated the game at will.
36 seconds before halftime, Bonn had scored an incredibly measly four points in the second quarter. With Allegri’s three-point throw, Bonn achieved their first “three” after 16 failed attempts. We went into the locker room with a terrible 19:50 deficit.
Bonn is struggling a bit, but isn’t catching up
In the third section it was important to find yourself again and not completely drown. There were 15 points to catch up on. At least the “three-point curse” was now broken, and three throw attempts behind the line ended up in the Athens basket.
The Baskets had now at least accepted the fight and managed to keep the game even. Nevertheless, the third quarter also went to the Greeks with one point, so that AEK went into the final period with a 70:38 lead.
Baskets hope for the Playins
But it quickly became clear after the restart: Bonn would no longer be able to catch up. The team was simply struggling too much with itself, while Athens was no longer showing any weakness.
Too bad rebounding, too bad a hit rate and, in the end, too bad an energy performance ensured that Athens qualified directly for the “Round of 16” with a 96:65 win as the winner of Group E, while the Baskets took the detour have to hope for the “Playins” (January 7th to 22nd, 2025, Best of Three).
Away game in Chemnitz
Roel Moors doesn’t have much time to get his team back on track. The league continues on Saturday with the away game at the Niners Chemnitz (8 p.m.).
