02 May 2021, 23:06
Basketball Basketball Bundesliga team Riesen Ludwigsburg has transformed its second match ball: With an 89:73 win, he secured first place in the BBL main round. The Merlins Crailsheim defended fifth place against the Hamburg Towers.
Both teams fought for every ball. Hamburg’s TJ Shorts fell over Trae Bell-Haynes from the Merlins Crailsheim.
Photo: Marc Schmerbeck
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Both teams fought for every ball. Hamburg’s TJ Shorts fell over Trae Bell-Haynes from the Merlins Crailsheim.
Photo: Marc Schmerbeck
The horror was more than obvious to the players and those in charge of the Hakro Merlins Crailsheim on Thursday evening. Jermaine Haley came up strangely during a defensive action, slipped away and was then brought out of the hall, leaning on several people. But nothing is torn. It is questionable whether he can still play again this season.
Merlins win their last hay round home game
His knee injury outweighs the 78:93 derby defeat against Ratiopharm Ulm (6th). Because with Tim Coleman and Haywood Highsmith, a third high performer threatens to drop out longer shortly before the end of the BBL main round. That will hardly be compensated in the high phase of the season.
On Sunday, the Crailsheimers did it with a lot of effort in their last home game in the main round. With an 85:79 against Hamburg Towers (7th) the Crailsheimers secured fifth place, but missed out on winning the direct comparison with Hamburg.
“We suffered a lot of injuries throughout the season and we lost the next player in Jermaine Haley,” said coach Tuomas Iisalo. “Unfortunately this will of course make it even more difficult for us as the season progresses, which is very frustrating. But we won’t bury our heads in the sand.” They proved that against Hamburg, against a direct competitor who slipped to seventh place due to their own defeat on Thursday and the victory in Ulm.
Nervous start from both teams
It was an intense but also nervous start to the game. It was only after two minutes that Elias Lasisi scored the first point for Crailsheim from the free throw line. Despite the failures, the home side were the slightly better team and went into the first break with a score of 23:17. In the final phase of the second quarter, the game was briefly disrupted due to many whistles from the referees. The flow of the game was a little gone, the rhythm of the Merlins gone. Even so, they went into the break with a 47:42 lead.
The game remained even after that. Neither team could clearly pull away. On the contrary: Before the last quarter it remained tight at 63:62. At first it was still tight, then the Crailsheimers pulled away a little and led with 77:69 four minutes before the end. Hamburg never came back and the Merlins won 85:79.
“We were very motivated and wanted to win the last home game,” said Trae Bell-Haynes. With 22 wins of the season, his team now has two wins ahead of Hamburg (7th) and one on Ulm (6th) with two games still to go. The Oldenburg (23 wins) in fourth place, the next Crailsheim opponent, are still within reach.
Ludwigsburg transforms the second match point
The first match ball to secure first place after the main round prematurely, table leader Riesen Ludwigsburg awarded on Friday evening with a nearly 93:94 at Brose Bamberg (8th). But the Ludwigsburg then turned the second match ball on Sunday evening. Against Telekom Baskets Bonn (12th) there was a clear 89:73 win at home. This means that the giants can no longer take first place.
They have three more victories than their closest opponent and most stubborn pursuer, Alba Berlin. “We weren’t aggressive enough in the first quarter, Bonn took advantage of that,” said Andrew Warren, Ludwigsburg’s best thrower with 22 points. “In the second quarter we increased the pressure.” After a 22:24 it went into the break with 46:38. It was 71:54 after three quarters.
