The start has been made: the basketball Bundesliga is playing again. At the start, Göttingen immediately caused a surprise. Because a national team was hot.
Munich (dpa) - BG Göttingen has won the opening game of the championship tournament of the basketball Bundesliga. The Lower Saxony prevailed in Munich against the Hakro Merlins Crailsheim with 89:78 (51:42) and took a first step towards the playoffs.
Bennet Hundt was the outstanding player in the Göttingen group. The 21-year-old young international was the best pitcher with 30 points and set a personal career best. In the second game of the first day, from 8.30 p.m. defending champions Bayern Munich and ratiopharm Ulm faced each other.
Hundt also scored the first three points of the championship tournament 89 days after the last matches. "I felt good right from the start. The first three went straight in, and it went from there," said Hundt after the game at Magentasport.
Until just before the start of the first of a total of 35 games, the people responsible in the Audi Dome had been fine-tuning the last hygiene measures, then basketball flew through the air again. A few people in charge of the league around BBL Managing Director Stefan Holz, a handful of paramedics, firefighters and security personnel as well as a few media representatives - in addition to the entourage of the two teams, these were the only spectators in the Audi Dome, which was otherwise seething at the home games of Bayern Munich with 6700 spectators.
Nevertheless, the restart meant an almost historical moment for the league. While the season in handball and ice hockey was stopped long ago, the basketball players still determine their German champions under strict hygiene regulations until June 28. All teams are sealed off in a Munich hotel to minimize the risk of corona infections.
In terms of sport, Göttingen and Crailsheim showed a very respectable game at the start despite the very short preparation time. The Göttingen team in particular, at the time of the interruption of the season in early March just below the playoff rankings, got off to a good start. Despite some prominent departures, the Lower Saxony dominated the game against the surprise team of the season and were ahead with nine points at the break (51:42).
After the break, Crailsheim found the game better and came back through some successful threes. But driven by the outstanding Hundt, the Göttingen survived this weak phase and celebrated an important victory on the way to the playoffs. This requires at least fourth place in the group of five.
Information about the tournament on the BBL homepage
BBL concept
Tournament schedule
Boxscore
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