That hurt! The Towers get a black eye in the EuroCup. Hamburg conceded a hearty 72:87 (35:52) against Lietkabelis Panevezys from Lithuania.
It was the third game in six days for the weary Towers. In addition to the long-term injured Zach Brown (broken foot), top scorer Caleb Homesley (back) and game designer Justus Hollatz (ill). Without them, Towers basketball was little: no energy, no team play. They never recovered from the catastrophic start (4:30 minutes without a basket) in front of 884 fans against the robust guests from Lithuania’s third largest city (85,000 inhabitants).
“We didn’t start well because we had players who had to play in unfamiliar positions,” said coach Pedro Calles. “Once we understood we were playing a basketball game, I couldn’t complain.”
Whenever the Towers fought, Panevezys increased the pressure – and hit difficult threes.
After all, the Hamburgers never gave up and fought. Symbolic of this was Maik Kotsar (16 points). The center conceded a cut, had two stitches sewn up and continued…
Because of the point guard crisis, Trevon Bluiett, who was signed for the winter, had to play on the “1” for the first time since he was young – and made his best Towers game with 19 points.
On Tuesday at 11.10 a.m. the Hamburgers jet to Ankara. The last main round game will take place there on Wednesday (7 p.m., Magenta Sport). Hamburg already have the round of 16 (April 19/20) for sure. A win would even put them in sixth place in Group A.
