EWE Baskets Oldenburg have scored an important victory in the battle for a play-off spot against Veolia Towers Hamburg. Cup winners Syntainics MBC have suffered a major setback in the fight for a play-off spot in the German Basketball League.
Oldenburg once again proved its home strength this season and prevailed with 99:81 (48:48) against the Hanseatic city after a furious performance in the final section.
The best scorer for the hosts, who celebrated their eleventh victory in 22 games, was Justin Jaworski (20 points). The visitors got off to the better start, but lost their way after taking a 7:2 lead. Oldenburg, who was again without playmaker Eli Brooks and Geno Crandall, took advantage of the visitors’ weak spell and produced a 12:0 run to surge 14:7 in front.
Hamburg then pulled itself together again and closed the gap to 27:28 at the start of the second period. The Baskets then pulled away again, but the Towers did not let themselves be shaken off decisively. In the second half, Hamburg built on its performance in the final minutes before half-time, initially remained the dominant team and took a 77:67 lead in the final quarter.
But that was not enough. Oldenburg turned the game around with a 23-0 run to finally celebrate their tenth victory in their eleventh home game.
Rostock and MBC win
After two wins in a row, Weißenfels lost 76:84 (37:44) at the Rostock Seawolves, who drew level with their 11th win.
The visitors led in Rostock until halfway through the second period, when the game took a turn. Bryce Hamilton was the Seawolves’ top scorer with 17 points, while Michael Devoe notched up 22 points for the MBC. Telekom Baskets Bonn beat Bamberg Baskets 87:77 (50:36) to move ahead of their neighbors in the table and are now just one win behind Rostock and Weißenfels.
Four weeks ago, the MBC surprisingly won the BBL Cup for the first time in the club’s history at the Final Four tournament in front of their home crowd.
