Telekom Baskets Bonn lost the decisive third game in the Champions League quarter-finals against Peristeri Athens and thus missed out on a return to the Final Four.
In a thrilling game, the defending champions from Bonn lost to the top Greek club 77:89 in their own stadium. After the Baskets won the first game of the best-of-three series, Peristeri won games two and three.
Peristeri turns up the heat at the end of the last quarter
The Baskets started the game well in front of 6,000 Bonn spectators, Noah Kirkwood immediately made a statement by winning the ball and then successfully completing the game. The first throws beyond the three-point line also found their target, point guard Harald Frey and captain Chris Sengfelder gave Bonn a 10:9 lead.
The guests from Athens subsequently became stronger and turned the game around, mainly thanks to the two top performers Trevor Thomspon (11 points in the first half) and Joe Ragland (13 points in the first half). Bonn made too many wrong decisions and were unfortunate on offense towards the end of the first quarter.
Ten points behind at the break
Bonn went into the second half with a 17:27 deficit. In Bonn, a lot of things continued to go through the strong Frey, and the physically strong Brian Fobbs was also able to make better use of his physical superiority in the second quarter.
After two blocks in a row from Bonn’s center Thomas Kennedy and another three from Sengfelder, Bonn got within four points in the middle of the second period. However, the 12:4 run wasn’t enough to tie the game. Athens upped the ante shortly before halftime and made the halftime score 43:51.
Fobbs brings Bonn back into play
After the break the same picture emerged. Bonn played strong offensively and was sometimes too careless in defense. Glynn Watson put Kennedy in the spotlight nicely and the Canadian converted to make it 49:57. Then Fobbs turned it around: With two threes in a row, Fobbs reduced Bonn’s lead to 61:63. Towards the end of the third quarter, Bonn was also much more stable in defense.
Savion Flagg had the chance to equalize with free throws, but missed one attempt. Things went back and forth during this phase. And again in the final seconds Ragland had the final say and put Athens back in the lead by five points.
Bonn had foul concerns early on
A thrilling final quarter developed in which Bon was on the verge of turning the game around. In the crucial moments, Peristeri was there in the person of Ragland and Jermaine Love, who turned up the heat in the final quarter. Bonn fought until the last second, but thanks to the early foul trouble, Athens maintained its lead until the end.
The strong Harald Frey with 21 points and Brian Fobbs (17 points) stood out for the Bonn team. Joe Ragland scored 21 points for the guests, Love ended up with 16 points.
After a strong Champions League season, the defending champions ended in the quarter-finals following the personnel changes last summer. The Bundesliga continues for Bonn on Saturday in Crailsheim.
