The situation in the BBL relegation battle is becoming more and more threatening for Tübingen and Crailsheim after their defeats. Oldenburg is safely in the play-ins for the play-offs
The Tigers Tübingen are on the brink of relegation from the BBL. The club from Swabia lost its away game at EWE Baskets Oldenburg by 63:79 (28:42) on Saturday and remains bottom of the table after its ninth defeat in a row. Oldenburg maintained ninth place with its fifth home win in a row and so secured a place in the play-offs.
After a false start, Tübingen trailed 10:0 after just three-and-a-half minutes and never led for the entire game. For the visitors, Erol Ersek steeled himself against defeat with 18 points, while Oldenburg was led by Geno Crandall (20 points, eight rebounds, six assists) and Ebuka Izundu (18 points, nine rebounds).
The basement kids come away empty-handed
The Tübingen club can only stay in the league if it wins its last two games, catches up with MLP Academics Heidelberg and wins the head-to-head tie with Heidelberg. The Academics could have sealed Tübingen’s relegation with a win against ratiopharm Ulm, but lost 57:73 (31:42) to the defending champions after a weak performance in offense. Ulm remains fifth in the table
The Hakro Merlins Crailsheim are also still in a precarious position in the relegation battle: After losing 82:109 (40:54) at home to Bamberg Baskets, they remain in penultimate place and have one win less to their name than Heidelberg. After their 14th win of the season, Bamberg still have a chance of climbing into the play-in places.
Direct rivals Veolia Towers Hamburg lost 79:85 (39:44) at home to Niners Chemnitz, but remain in tenth place with 15 wins to their name. Following their European Cup success, Chemnitz have now also won again in the BBL, where they had recently lost three times in a row, and remain in third place
