The MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg won the expected battle of attrition at Telekom Baskets Bonn. Once again, the long-range shot proved to be their undoing. The decision only came at the very end.
With 40 seconds remaining, Ludwigsburg’s Stefan Smith put the visitors ahead with a three (79:80). Aminu and Murphy then missed the reply. On the other end, Buchanan stepped up at the line, but missed a shot and so gave Bonn a good chance to take the game into overtime.
Here, it was again both Joel Aminu (11, 3/9) and Grayson Murphy (15/7/4) who could have given their side the lead – this time from the three-point line – but both fell short. After another offensive rebound, hope was revived in the form of two Comithier free throws to possibly equalize. However, the forward missed both shots.
Bonn shoots 22 buckets from distance
The final period was exemplary of the defeat from the home side’s perspective. They clearly won the duel on the boards with 39 rebounds, including a strong 14 in offense. However, the Westphalians’ insecurity from the three-point line – their perennial problem this season – put paid to that. Only 5 out of 27 attempts went through the hoop. It was a different story for the visitors, who hit 14 shots from beyond the arc, four of which (4/9) went to top scorer Smith (16 PTS) alone.
Bonn’s best scorer was Jalen Finch with 19 points (5/7) and four assists.
The defeat means Bonn’s Baskets miss out on the jump to third place, while Ludwigsburg closes the gap on the direct playoff places. Click here for the current BBL table.