The MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg have won a thriller in the Basketball Bundesliga play-offs, prevailing over ratiopharm Ulm after 50 minutes.
Ludwigsburg won 104:99 (90:90, 83:83, 38:46) after two overtimes late on Saturday night and now leads 1-0 in the quarterfinal series in best-of-five mode.
Jonah Radebaugh was the most important player for the hosts with 20 points, seven rebounds and nine assists as they struggled to avoid defeat after falling behind. Radebaugh hit a three-pointer late in regulation time to equalise, which saved the Giants into overtime. For the guests, an absolute top performance by Jaron Blossomgame (41 points, 16 rebounds) was not enough for a win.
On Friday evening, all the favourites had solved their tasks. Champion Alba Berlin defeated former series champion Brose Bamberg 114:89, the two challengers FC Bayern (77:53 against Chemnitz) and Telekom Baskets Bonn (100:98 after overtime against Hamburg) also took the lead. On Sunday, the second games in these three series will already take place.
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg – ratiopharm Ulm 104:99 n.2.V. (27:26,11:20,23:17,22:20,21:16)
Points MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg: Radebaugh 20, Woodard 18, Darden 15, Hulls 15, Cotton 13, Simon 11, Bartolo 5, Wohlfarth-Bottermann 5, Jacob Patrick 2
ratiopharm Ulm: Blossomgame 41, Thornwell 17, S. Evans 16, Jallow 12, Zugic 6, Christon 4, Bretzel 3
Spectators: 1748