Heidelberg wins 3-1 against Chemnitz in the quarterfinals. The Basketball Lions Braunschweig and the Würzburg Baskets will now face each other in the decisive fifth game.
The MLP Academics Heidelberg are in the semifinals of the German basketball championship for the first time in 50 years. Daniel Jansson’s team won the fourth quarterfinal game against the Niners Chemnitz 92-64 (48-41) and prevailed 3-1 in the best-of-five series. Their opponent in the semifinals is defending champion FC Bayern Munich.
The Würzburg Baskets, on the other hand, forced a fifth and decisive game against Basketball Löwen Braunschweig. With a 79-72 (44-34) win against the third-placed team, the Baskets evened the series at 2-2. The final game for a place in the semi-final playoffs, where ratiopharm Ulm awaits, will take place on Thursday (3:00 p.m./Dyn) in Braunschweig. The top scorers were Würzburg’s Zachary Seljaas with 17 points and TJ Crockett Jr. (16) for Braunschweig.
Heidelberg’s Weathers excels with 24 points
The game in Heidelberg was only exciting for one half. The fifth-placed team after the regular Bundesliga season picked up the pace after the break, improving its shooting accuracy and defense to quickly pull away. Chemnitz had no answer and had to accept a well-deserved defeat. The top scorers were Heidelberg’s Michael Weathers with 24 points and Kevin Yebo (12) for the Niners.
The first three playoff semifinals will take place on June 1, 4, and 7. Munich and Ulm will enjoy home-court advantage in the first game before playing the second game away. In the third game, the two best teams from the Bundesliga round will again have home-court advantage. The team that wins three games first will advance to the final.
