Only six weeks after the 91:90 first leg victory in the local Sparkassen Arena, BG Göttingen will play the second leg at Syntainics MBC in Weißenfels on Sunday at 3 p.m. Kamar Baldwin decided the heartbeat final with two converted free throws in December shortly before the end for the violets, now it’s off to Weißenfels, where the hosts can count on the support of 750 fans in the town hall.
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That’s how many spectators were there on Wednesday evening in the catch-up game against EWE Baskets Oldenburg, when MBC was able to end its five-game losing streak with a 87-82 (43-46) win against the bottom team. After a 78:61 lead in the 36th minute, the game seemed to be decided, but Lower Saxony fought back to within four points. A key to success was the three-way quota of 58 percent, which was relatively good for the MBC (otherwise an average of 34.2 percent). After all, seven of the nine players used by head coach Igor Jovovic scored from distance. However, the points of this basement duel ultimately stayed with the hosts, who in 15th place in the table with five wins this season have a small cushion on the three following teams Würzburg (3 wins), Gießen (3) and Oldenburg (2).
The face of the Syntainics MBC has changed since the guest performance in Göttingen. Before Christmas, Leon Friederici said goodbye to league competitor Heidelberg, where he signed a two-year contract. On the new year, the club announced the departure of Jakub Garbacz, who went back to his Polish homeland at his own request.
The personnel carousel then continued to turn: just a few days after Garbacz’s departure, MBC struck gold on the transfer market and secured the services of rebound specialist Reggie Upshaw until the end of the season. The US-American has returned to Germany from Ukrainian Cup winners Budivelnyk Kiev, where he started his professional career in Tübingen in the 2017/18 season. “Reggie, despite his young age, already has a lot of experience in various European leagues, including the Bundesliga and the strong leagues in Spain and Italy, not to forget the Eurocup,” said coach Jovovic, who supported the 26-year-old in his so far there has been a lot of playing time in three games. With 15 points and eleven rebounds, he was one of the Weißenfels team’s best throwers against Oldenburg alongside Jamel Morris (21 points), Nikola Rebic (16) and Goran Huskic (15). In the previous away game in Hamburg, Upshaw was even the top scorer of the game with 27 points.
With another transfer, the upcoming BG opponent made people sit up and take notice: John Bryant moved from Gießen to Saxony-Anhalt. The German-American was still in the squad when the violets won 87-76 against the Hessians on January 8th. With this lightning signing, the MBC reacted to the shortage of staff in the center position. Johannes Richter, who recently established himself in the starting line-up, is out for the time being due to hip problems. Bryant was twice the most valuable player in the Bundesliga (2012, 2013), five times All-Star (most recently 2018) and once German champion with FC Bayern Munich (2014). The 34-year-old has signed a contract with MBC until the end of the season. He was used for the first time in the game against the Hamburg Towers on January 14, where he was the third-best shooter on his new team with twelve points, and also contributed nine rebounds and three assists. He was only on the field for eight minutes against Oldenburg and scored five points.
