Bayern Munich and EWE Baskets Oldenburg are in the final of the Basketball Bundesliga Cup. The Munich team, who were recently weakening in the league and the Euroleague, prevailed in the semi-finals on Saturday evening in Oldenburg against defending champion Alba Berlin with 83:77 (40:38). The best pitcher at Bayern was Cassius Winston with 21 points. Jaleen Smith scored a strong 31 points for the Berliners.
The EWE Baskets Oldenburg had previously prevailed in the first semi-final thanks to a strong comeback against the MHP giants Ludwigsburg. The hosts were now 16 points behind. Driven on by the outstanding DeWayne Russell, who scored 26 points, and supported by the majority of the 6,200 spectators in the sold-out EWE Arena, the Oldenburgers turned the game around. They will play on Sunday (3 p.m. at Magentasport) in the final for the second cup win in the club’s history.
“A Great Comeback”
In a hard-fought but rarely top-class duel, Bayern seemed superior before the break and drew up to ten points ahead. In Vladimir Lucic and Corey Walden, two top performers who were missing from the last time were back. The people of Munich were unrecognizable compared to the embarrassment against the Towers Hamburg in the league on Tuesday. But Alba wasn’t impressed and fought his way up to two points before the break.
However, the Berliners were no longer able to turn the tide. Last year’s double winner looked tired, top performers like Maodo Lo, Luke Sikma and Johannes Thiemann were far below their potential. The outstanding Smith was not enough for Alba. Whenever the Berliners had reduced the gap again, Bayern had a suitable answer ready.
Oldenburg actually got off to a good start in their own hall and quickly pulled away to 8:2. But then the Ludwigsburg team improved and scored in an impressive manner, especially from a distance. Before the break, the giants sunk nine of 17 threes – at the break Ludwigsburg was up twelve points (49:37). Also because the EWE Baskets afforded too many ball losses.
After the change of sides, Oldenburg increased. Led by the outstanding Russell, the Lower Saxony continued to shorten the gap and took the lead again in the final quarter at a score of 73:72 for the first time since the beginning phase. Oldenburg dropped to nine points (89:80), but Ludwigsburg came back to three points (86:89). But in the end, the EWE Baskets prevailed, as they did in the league game.
“Once again it was a great comeback. We have been challenged and we have accepted the challenge. That’s good,” said Oldenburg coach Pedro Calles. “DeWayne Russell was the best man on the floor,” Calles said. “We didn’t find any answers against him,” admitted Ludwigsburg coach Josh King.
