This did not change the fact that trai­ner Pre­drag Kru­nic’s team took a deserved defeat, which puts them under heavy pressure in the two game days before the end of the second phase of the bas­ket­ball Bun­des­li­ga. They will have a difficult task in the final games against the Gie­ßen 46ers on Friday (8.30pm, Hal­le Ost) and on Monday (3.30pm) at home against the EWE Bas­kets Ol­den­burg, as they are up against two teams who are really in need of more points to get into the playoffs. And if the Bonn team manage to lose these two games, they could miss out on the final round of the championships of the best eight.

In front of 5410 spectators at the Te­le­kom Do­me the team did not give the impression that they were well equipped for this show­down, especially mentally. The day before, the competition had given them three favours: Bay­reuth won against Gie­ßen, Munich beat Ol­den­bur­g and Bre­mer­ha­ven defeated Ber­lin. Had they been successful against Göt­tin­gen, the Bonn team would not only be guaranteed a place in the playoffs, but their chances of reaching fifth place in the table would have greatly improved.

These two good prospects seemed to paralyse the players rather than spur them on. From the beginning the visiting team played aggressively. Their playing style featured many fouls, but they demonstrated their effect. The Bonn team suffered from 14 ball losses up to the first half time.

At times, it was frantic on the court. There was an accumulation of ris­ky passes into the opponents’ hands, travelling and other unnecessary turn­overs. Hands were too often shaky during the throws. Out of nine distance shots in the time up to the break, none were successful for the Bonn team. No wonder that Göt­tin­gen were leading 42:30 after the first two quarters, and there were some slip ups in the Bonn defensive. Vei­ka­las sunk his first two three-pointers standing completely free. “Our standard in the first halves was not good, we did not really expect the intensity and the physique of BG Göt­tin­gen,” Kru­nic later admitted.

Yet it could have turned out well. Led by defence monster Yor­man Po­las Bart­olo and TJ Di­Leo, who played with unbelievable intensity and transformed significant throws, the home team literally bit into the game. And then the three-pointers came. As Ojars Si­lins reduced the gap to 49:52 and later on the otherwise weak Ry­an Thom­pson brought the Baskets into their first lead since the first quarter (53:52) and the fans in the stands were on their feet. The spectators gave it their all, trying to strengthen their team to make a change. Göt­tin­gen stumbled but did not fall. “We experienced a slump but on the home straight we recovered brilliantly and worked together as a collective,” said BG Co­ach Jo­han Roi­jak­kers.

But the Bonn collective did not remain stable. Ca­p­tain Josh Mayo was unable to set his usual example during the game and many of his team members did not leave their marks. Besides Bart­olo and Di­Leo, only the cen­ter player Ju­li­an Gam­ble was convincing. Kru­nic said, “we fought and moved the ball better but in the last quarter we did not manage to keep up the momentum”. Bart­olo’s free throw bringing the score to 64:63 was the last time the Baskets were in the lead. The three points by Vei­ka­las and shot by Alex Ru­off brought the Göt­tin­gen team from 66:64 up to 74:64 and left the Baskets without response. (Orig. text: Gerhard Mertens)