By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
After clinching the top seed in Germany’s easyCredit BBL Regular Season earlier this week, Telekom Baskets Bonn edged out ratiopharm Ulm, 85-83, to finish with a spotless 17-0 home record.
Season MVP T. J. Shorts II scored ten of 30 points down the stretch, including the game-winning bucket with 0.7 seconds left in the Round 34 fixture. Making 8/10 from the field was combined with six rebounds and six assists for a game-high efficiency rating of 36.
Heading to the Basketball Champions League Final Four to be held 12-14 May in Malaga, head coach Tuomas Iisalo saw Jeremy Morgan return to action. The 27-year-old guard tallied three rebounds, two assists, and one steal lasting 13 minutes in his first appearance since late December.
Top-seeded Bonn also learned the Quarterfinals opponent as Niners Chemnitz prevailed, 81-74, in the battle for the eighth spot with MLP Academics Heidelberg.
Highlighting the regular-season finale, DeWayne Russell poured 37 points, a new personal best at the professional level. He pushed fourth-seeded EWE Baskets Oldenburg to a convincing win, 88-76, against third-seeded FC Bayern Munich. For the visitors, besides multiple players resting and others on the injury list, head coach Andrea Trinchieri (personal) missed the game as well.
BBL Round 34
ALBA Berlin – Wurzburg Baskets 76-47 (5 April)
Basketball Lowen Braunschweig – Veolia Towers Hamburg 88-78
Syntainics MBC – Hakro Merlins Crailsheim 79-69
EWE Baskets Oldenburg – FC Bayern Munich 88-76
Brose Bamberg – medi Bayreuth 120-106
MLP Academics Heidelberg – Niners Chemnitz 74-81
BG Gottingen – Fraport Skyliners 82-88
Telekom Baskets Bonn – ratiopharm Ulm 85-83
Rostock Seawolves – MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 92-87 OT (79-79)
STANDINGS: Telekom Baskets Bonn 32-2, ALBA Berlin 31-3, FC Bayern Munich 25-9, EWE Baskets Oldenburg 22-12…
BBL Playoffs (Quarterfinals)
Telekom Baskets Bonn (1) – Niners Chemnitz (8)
ALBA Berlin (2) – ratiopharm Ulm (7)
FC Bayern Munich (3) – BG Gottingen (6)
EWE Baskets Oldenburg (4) – MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg (5)
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League