“Have Shown Our True Colors” – Basketball Finals Series Evened Again
The Telekom Baskets Bonn are back. After the defeat in the first game of the final series of the Basketball Bundesliga, the Champions League winner shows his full strength in the second game. Now it’s on to Ulm.
Mith an impressive show of force, the Telekom Baskets Bonn managed to equalize in the final series of the basketball league. Two days after the surprising 73:79 against ratiopharm Ulm, the Champions League winner clearly won the second duel in his own hall on Sunday evening 104:75 (45:29). In front of 6000 spectators in the sold-out Telekom Dome in Bonn, Finn Delany was the best thrower in Bonn with 23 points. National player Karim Jallow scored 17 points in Ulm.
“Of course it was a very important win for us. Today we showed our true colors,” said Bonn’s coach Tuomas Iisalo at Magentasport. Ulm’s coach Anton Gavel, on the other hand, was disappointed. “We got a beating,” he said.
Game three takes place in Ulm on Wednesday, and the team from Ulm also have home advantage in the fourth game on Friday. A possible fifth game would then take place again in Bonn on June 18, since the Telekom Baskets had finished first in the main round. To become German champion, three victories are necessary.
It would be the first championship title for both Bonn and Ulm. Defending champion Alba Berlin had already failed in the quarterfinals against Ulm, which then also knocked Bayern Munich out of the playoffs in the semifinals.
Bonn with a significantly better throw rate than Friday
The Bonners acted more aggressively in the second meeting than on Friday, were not shocked by the first home defeat of the season and were already ten points ahead after the first quarter (26:16). They had a significantly better shot rate than on Friday and once again decided the rebound ratio clearly in their favor.
But Ulm initially held back impressively and equalized at the beginning of the second quarter with a 10-0 run to make it 26:26. The momentum was now on the visitors’ side, but Bonn came back. With a 19:3 run, the Telekom Baskets had a decisive advantage up to half-time. “We slept through the first game a bit and didn’t show what we can do. It’s different today,” said Bonn’s national team center Leon Kratter at half-time.
After that, the Bonners seamlessly continued their strong phase before the break. Coach Tuomas Iisalo’s team won the third period 30:15, so the game was decided. Both teams used the final quarter for some spectacular scenes – nothing changed at the end of the game.