In the Basketball Champions League, defending champion Telekom Baskets Bonn also won the second game in the group phase of the last 16 teams and remains on course for the quarterfinals.
Head coach Roel Moors’ team prevailed on Tuesday evening in the German duel against the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg with 80:75 (53:38). This season, Bonn had already won both the comparisons with Ludwigsburg in the league and cup.
Bonn won the first game in Group J against Galatasaray Istanbul 89:76. In total, there are four groups of four in the round of 16, from which the first two teams qualify for the quarter-finals.
Bonn turns up the heat in the second quarter
Thomas Kennedy and Glynn Watson scored Bonn’s first four points before Ludwigsburg’s Desure Buie scored from the three-point line. At the beginning, both teams lacked accuracy. But Bonn improved, Till Pape converted the first three-pointer for the hosts and gave Bonn a 17:11 lead.
The Baskets really got going in the second quarter. After a dunk by Christian Sengfelder, Bonn led by double digits for the first time (37:27), which Kennedy extended to 14 points with a layup. And the first half came to a spectacular end: Kennedy scored a step-back three-pointer with the clock running out to make the score 53:38 at halftime.
After the break, Ludwigsburg was more stable again and was able to win the third quarter 15:10, but Bonn still took a ten-point cushion into the final section. Ludwigsburg continued to make up ground, Jonathan Bähre reduced the score to six points (65:59) with an alley oop eight minutes before the end of the game.
But Bonn then defended itself better again, Noah Kirkwood hit an important three-pointer to make it 69:61. In an exciting final phase, Ludwigsburg moved within four points (79:75), but the Baskets held their nerve.
Bonn demanded in Hamburg on Saturday
For Bonn, the league continues on Saturday with an away game in Hamburg (6.30 p.m.) before the team plays in the Champions League at JDA Dijon next Tuesday (8 p.m.).
