AUDIO: Towers beat Bayern again (4 min)
Basketball Bundesliga
As of: March 29, 2026 5:11 p.m
The Hamburg Towers showed their best performance of the season in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) on Sunday. The North Germans deservedly beat champions FC Bayern Munich 96:81 (24:22, 24:20, 21:17, 27:22) in front of a record crowd of 12,570 spectators in the Arena in Volkspark.
Above all, it was a three-way show that once again secured victory for coach Benka Barloschky’s team over the league leaders in the large hall in the Volkspark. Last year, Hamburg beat Munich 74:70.
The fact that the success was even clearer this time was due in particular to the outstanding performances of Leonard Thorpe with 24 and Kenneth Ogbe with 21 points. The Hanseatic League also earned the victory as a team with high energy, good defense and good ball movement over long stretches.
For the Towers, now 15th again, the tenth win of the season was also extremely important in the table. In the fight to stay in the league, they have again overtaken the Central German team BC (16th), who had beaten Rasta Vechta on Saturday, and have put further pressure on Heidelberg (17th) and Braunschweig (18th).
Ogbe gives Towers the lead at half-time
Ogbe and Niklas Wimberg created the first highlight of the game with a beautiful move – Ogbe scored with a dunk after a no-look pass from Wimberg. It was also Hamburg’s first lead (7:6, 3rd). And that was still the case at the end of the first quarter, because the Towers’ small forward scored with a layup to make it 24:22, practically before the siren.
And because things were going so well, the 31-year-old followed up with four three-pointers in a row at the start of the second ten minutes to make it 39:28 (16th). The Barloschky team repeatedly gained good throwing positions through high (passing) speed and good ball movement, but the champions also seemed strangely reserved on defense in many situations. Since FCB at least stabilized somewhat at the end of the second period, Hamburg’s lead dwindled to six points at the break (48:42).
Three-way show in the second half too
It was a trend that initially continued at the beginning of the third quarter: the Munich team acted with more energy and continued to fight their way forward. But the Towers held up well at the end of the period, especially with shooting guard Leonard Thorpe. With two three-pointers in the last 35 seconds, the American increased Hamburg’s lead back to ten points (69:59).
And the throws from “Downtown” also fell for the Towers at the beginning of the final quarter. Ogbe made it 81:67 with two free throws five minutes before the end, and a little later it was 89:70 (37th) – and the celebrations of around 12,500 spectators in the arena picked up speed early on.
