Setback for the Trier Gladiators: The BBL’s surprise team lost 94:95 in a wild game against Jena.
Three days after their exit from the cup, the Trier Gladiators dramatically lost the promotion duel and suffered their first home defeat in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). The league leaders lost to Science City Jena on Wednesday evening after a last-second comeback 94:95 (54:52), and Trier came away empty-handed for the second time in the eighth game. Thanks to the win, Jena now has a positive balance (4:3).
A weak third third costs the win
Trier, which clearly failed at home to FC Bayern in the cup quarter-finals on Sunday (80:96), deprived itself of almost all chances of victory thanks to a very weak third quarter (12:27) and was at one point 18 points behind. The deficit gradually diminished over time, with Nolan Adekunle taking the lead to 94:93 with five seconds left on the clock. However, there was no happy ending; Eric Washington threw Jena to victory with a buzzer beater. “I thought it was going to go over, but it went in,” Washington said on Dyn of his winning throw.
Joe Wieskamp was the guests’ top scorer with 19 points. The Gladiators’ best thrower was Jordan Roland (20). For the Trier team, who have so far only been beaten by Oldenburg in the league, the game only continues on December 6th at the MHP giants Ludwigsburg due to the upcoming international match window. Jena then welcomes runner-up Ulm.
