After eight bankruptcies and 26 points behind, Jussi Laakso leads the Merlins to a comeback victory

The HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim have never won against the Tigers Tübingen before (record: 0-4). In addition, the Hohenlohe team are carrying the burden of eight defeats in a row. It doesn’t help much to find ourselves 26 points behind shortly after the break. But Jussi Laakso found the right duo in Brandon Childress and James Murray-Boyles (18 points each), which led the Wizards to an 87:84 comeback.

Course of the game and turning point: Right from the high ball, the home team’s nervousness and pressure after eight defeats in a row was clearly noticeable. The newcomer from Tübingen, however, played completely free… stop: Mateo Seric played completely free. Whatever the Merlins defense did in the first half, they couldn’t contain the Tigers big man. This in turn meant that when Seric went into the locker room, he had 23 points, almost as many points on his personal account as Crailsheim as a team (28:45, 20th minute).

As soon as the game restarted, the Tigers stepped up and increased their lead to 26 points before coach Laakso gave his charges the right tactical means to initiate a comeback. From then on, Crailsheim was more aggressive with Seric and hit some difficult threes that got the crowd going. Childress and Murray-Boyles complemented each other perfectly and played into a real offensive frenzy. So it was up to the former to take the long-awaited 85:84 lead with a three-point play with 1:14 minutes left on the clock. Since Tübingen were unable to counter, the guests had to make a tactical foul and sent Murray-Boyles to the line, where he ice-coldly scored the final score.

Duel in focus: Brandon Childress vs. Erol Ersek… or: In the spotlight. In Leo Westermann’s absence, Childress was almost forced to shoulder more responsibility – which he managed impressively. With his 18 points he outstripped Ersek (6 points), who had difficulty finding his way into the game this time.

Please pay: The Merlins were awarded 29 free throw attempts, of which they hit 24 (82.8 percent). This meant that the home side were well above the previous average of 16.0 free throws, which corresponded to the lowest value in the easyCredit BBL.

Milestones: Fabian Bleck (Crailsheim) grabbed a total of four offensive rebounds, breaking the mark of 300 rebounds secured on the opponent’s board and now has 302 second chances made possible.

Player of the game: Brandon Childress was the leader the Merlins needed. The guard showed weaknesses from the field in the end (5/14), but constantly went to the board and was rewarded with free throws (8/10). He also served the team in an exemplary manner with four assists and three steals.

The Germans: Maurice Stuckey (14) and Fabian Bleck (12) made a valuable contribution to the Merlins comeback.

For the Tigers, Mateo Seric was unable to repeat his splendid first half, but he still set a new personal record with 24 points.

On the edge of the gang: …2,439 spectators sat in the Hohenlohe Arena – as well as the ailing Leo Westermann.

Video: Highlights from this game will be posted here shortly Dyn or here on this too YouTube-Kanal from Dyn.

What’s next: Due to the approaching cup quarter-finals, both teams have no games next weekend. The Tigers Tübingen will continue away in Hamburg on Friday, December 15th, 2023 – tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. The HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim have to play in Bamberg on the following Monday, December 18th, 2023 (game starts at 8:00 p.m.).