Three basketball teams from Baden-Württemberg were active in three different European Cup competitions on Wednesday – with victories for Crailsheim and Ludwigsburg. Only Ulm came away empty-handed.
The Merlins Crailsheim are back on the road to success in the Europe Cup. The Bundesliga basketball team won 76:66 (36:29) against Greek representative Peristeri Athens on Wednesday evening. This means that the Crailsheimers have two wins after three match days. Most recently they lost at home to BC Tsmoki Minsk with 77:81. A decisive factor from the point of view of the guests were the few ball losses. While Peristeri made 21 turnovers, the Merlins only released the ball involuntarily 13 times. The Crailsheimers started to measure, after the first quarter they led with 20:15. They extended this lead before the break and in the last quarter they could not be dissuaded from their path. The best thrower of the game was TJ Shorts, who contributed 21 points to the away win.
MHP giants shine in the Champions League
The MHP Giants Ludwigsburg remain undefeated in the Basketball Champions League. At home they won on Wednesday evening against Lenovo Tenerife from Spain with 80:69 (43:31). As a result, Ludwigsburg holds first place in Group A. The people of Baden-Württemberg only gave up the third quarter (15:21). In addition, they could rely on Tremmell Darden (16 points) and Jonathan Behre, who came off the bench and hung up 15 points. Overall, however, five players from the home side scored in double digits. Even the guests hadn’t lost a game before their appearance in the MHP-Arena. In Ludwigsburg, however, they lost the ball 18 times and were too careless under the boards.
Ulm loses in the Eurocup
The basketball players from Ratiopharm Ulm are still waiting for their first victory in the Eurocup. After the 79-86 defeat at the start against Buducnost Podgorica, the Bundesliga team also lost 76:87 (44:40) at Virtus Bologna on Wednesday evening. The best thrower of the game was Mouhammadou Jaiteh with 20 points. Semaj Christon was the most successful in the South Germans with 14 points. The Ulm team initially found their way into the game and were ahead of the game after the first ten minutes (28:23). However, the hosts struggled and brought the people of Baden-Württemberg more and more out of the rhythm. Especially after the break, Ulm lost the connection. The third quarter went to the experienced Italians at 22:10. “We gave Virtus the momentum and lost the ball too often,” said guest coach Jaka Lakovic. In the final section, his team was no longer able to reconnect.
