Hamburg (dpa / lno) – The Veolia Towers Hamburg can breathe a sigh of relief in the relegation battle of the basketball Bundesliga – for the time being at least. After the 90:86 (50:50) success on Wednesday evening in the Inselparkhalle against the MLP Academics Heidelberg and Frankfurt’s defeat in Munich, the gap to the penultimate table has increased to three wins again. However, the Hessians still have five games ahead of them, Hamburg only four.
However, the appearance against Heidelberg, who traveled to the game in the Hanseatic city with four wins in a row, should give those responsible and the fans courage for the end of the season. Especially since the match against Heidelberg showed how important Ryan Taylor and Anthony Polite are for the team. Both were missing against Alba Berlin last Sunday. Now Polite not only crowned his comeback with 25 points, he also ended an exciting game with 1.4 seconds before the end with a converted free throw.
However, the 25-year-old did not attribute the team’s success to his hit rate, but to the team’s defensive performance. “We defended the line of three much better after half-time.” In the second 20 minutes, Heidelberg made 17 attempts but only four goals after the visitors had scored 12 of 22 shots in the first half. “It was frustrating that they hit us in the face like that,” admitted Polite.
Lukas Meisner also played a major part in the victory, starting Taylor’s three-point shot with an offensive rebound 13 seconds before the end to make it 89:84. For coach Benka Barloschky, this action was “a big play that ended up putting the lid on”. Meisner himself found clear words despite the success. “Of course it’s an important win. But I’m not satisfied yet. That would be me if we were playing for the playoffs. But we can’t do that.”
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Hamburg Towers
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2023-04-20 08:02:00
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