164 days after their historic final triumph, Telekom Baskets Bonn started the group phase of the Champions League with an away win. The defending champions won against the Turkish club Bursaspor Info Yatirim on Wednesday evening with 91:73 (49:34). The best thrower for the German runner-up was Till Pape with 16 points.
Originally, the Baskets, who had to cope with a major upheaval in the squad and in the coaching bench in the summer after their successful season, were supposed to start the competition against Hapoel Holon from Israel on October 18th in front of their home crowd. But due to the Middle East conflict, the first games of the Israeli participants were canceled.
In Bursa, head coach Roel Moors’ team was wide awake from the start. By the end of the first quarter, Bonn had gained a ten-point lead, and the Rhinelanders continued to dominate the game as the game progressed. In addition to Pape, four other Baskets professionals scored double figures.