Veolia Towers Hamburg falls to NINERS Chemnitz in a thrilling game with big plays determining the outcome in the last 90 seconds. Yoeli Childs continues to shine as top scorer with 17 points.

The Veolia Towers Hamburg are defeated in the penultimate game of the season with 87:80 at the NINERS Chemnitz. In an exciting and intense game, the big plays decide the game in the last 90 seconds. Yoeli Childs topscorer again with 17 points.

Benka Barloschka: “I think we executed our game plan very, very well for large parts of the game. In the last quarter we didn’t manage to hold up against the physique of Chemnitz, actually we did the whole second half. We were able to stop the first run and create our own. In the last quarter, especially at the end, we didn’t manage to play our shots. I’m a very patient person, I rarely if ever talk about referees. But I think the three who took charge of today’s game need to look at it again very carefully. I would like to say that they didn’t manage the game well in this atmosphere today.”

Luke Meiser: “Chemnitz made very, very good plays towards the end. We didn’t succeed. In the decisive phase we lost the ball too much. However, it’s absurd if Chemnitz fans insult you throughout the game, that’s a real freedom. But congratulations on that. The atmosphere is nice, but insults have no place here. What some people from Chemnitz are doing here is more than silly.”

NINERS Chemnitz 87:80 Veolia Towers Hamburg (25:21, 42:50, 60:67)

The Veolia Towers tried to put a lot of pressure directly on the ball-carrying Chemnitz team via a switch defense. However, the hosts were a step faster at the beginning of their last home game of the main round. And sat down in the early stages with eight unanswered points. Even the first five Hamburg points didn’t help to slow down the quick start of the home side. After around four and a half minutes, the deficit was in double digits for the first time. Reason enough for a Hamburg break. But it wasn’t just speed that gave the Niners an advantage, but also accuracy on the three-point line. The first three attempts were successful. At the end of the first ten minutes, Downtown scored five (55.6%). The Towers, on the other hand, struggled with their luck for a long time and were even 12 points behind at times. Two three-pointers by Ryan Taylor and Len Schoormann finally gave the Hanseatic League, who continued to defend vigorously, offensive drive. And so the Hamburgers were able to catch up to four points by the end of the first quarter.

And the Veolia Towers now seemed to like the distance throw. Again Ryan Taylor and Anthony Polite followed up from beyond the 6.75 meter line. And in an offensively shaped initial phase of the second section, the gap melted to two points. Things still didn’t go completely well in Hamburg’s game. After a break, Chemnitz came back with a 5-0 run. There was an interruption on the part of the Towers. And although the voice of head coach Benka Barloschky had almost completely said goodbye, his men understood. Because just 90 seconds later, Ryan Taylor equalized with his third three. Big Man Yoeli Childs was then granted Hamburg’s first lead of the evening in the following attack. The home side’s initial superiority had now evaporated. To the verbal displeasure of the audience, which was now experiencing the best phase of the Hanseatic League. To be more precise: Two more threes, followed by three shots close to the basket. The consistent performance, with 17:29 the second quarter was won, gave the Towers a two-digit lead. When going into the break, however, a one-digit lead shone on the scoreboard. Because the last counters before half-time went to the account of the hosts.

A failure of the hall technology delayed the punctual restart. However, this did not detract from the strong performance of the Veolia Towers. The first four points of the second half brought Polite and Childs to the arc. With a little delay, the Niners found their way back into the game. And rightly so: Because a 9:0 sprint brought the connection and the audience back into the game. The game then tipped over and the 4552 fans in the exhibition hall were treated to a veritable error festival before emotions ran high on both sides. After a technical foul due to flopping against Ryan Taylor, Barloschky claimed his team’s possession of the ball with an incendiary speech at the scoring table. Chemnitz’ trainer Rodrigo Pastore tried it similarly, but received a warning from the referees. His team then equalized before Samar’s three-pointer and captain Seth Hinrichs’ putback dunk calmed things down a little. The emotions moved back to the ranks, on the floor all the protagonists concentrated on the sport again. With a better outcome for the Towers, who were able to take a seven-point lead into the last quarter.

But that didn’t make it any easier either. Led by Yoeli Childs, Hamburg had to work very hard for the first three points in the final section. Chemnitz, on the other hand, played as freely as at the beginning. First a dunk from ex-Hamburger Kevin Yebo, then a deep threesome from Velicka. The Niners were up to a point after three minutes. Not only the tight score promoted a duel that was now charged to the maximum again on all levels. Both Lukas Meisner and Kevin Yebo dealt properly when blocking on the offensive. In accordance with the rules, however, they were also warned with a foul. However, it was also the Hamburg co-captain who provided very important counters with two threes. As in the majority of the 20 encounters before, a real heartbeat final developed. Favored by a technical foul, Chemnitz had the chance to equalize from the free-throw line at the beginning of crunch time. But of all things, Niner’s leader Velicka missed both attempts. So it was reserved for Anthony Polite, also because the Chemnitz team had been given a technical foul, to extend the lead from the Charity Stripe to three points again. Ultimately, however, that should not be enough. Because the decisive big plays, completed in the decisive 10:0 run, were delivered by the Niners, who thus kept all chances of a playoff entry open.

Stats: Schoormann (5), Polite (11, 6 reb., 4 ass., 3 stl.), Philipps (3), Meisner (13, 3 reb.), Samar (10, 6 ass.), Hinrichs (4, 3 Reb.), Taylor (13), Wohlfarth-Bottermann (4, 3 Reb.), Childs (17)