After their narrow victory in Germany (76-77), the Strasbourg residents were unable to double the lead at Rhénus (66-76) and will have to seek their qualification for the Final Four of the Basketball Champions League on Tuesday April 18 in Bonn.
It became very clear on this Tuesday evening that Bonn, the leader of the German championship – or it’s like – is of a higher caliber than 14th in Betclic Elite. While TJ Shorts was below his standards (10 points at 3/14 on shots), it’s a collective demonstration that the Germans have made for a long time. As for the Alsatians, they waited to be on the edge of the precipice to revolt and it was too late to overturn the table.
An 0-13 in the teeth
After deflowering the score via a dunk from Léo Cavalière, the SIG suffered a headwind. Consequence: 7-15, after five minutes, with two three-pointers from Sebastian Herrera (his team’s top scorer in the end with 19 points). A time-out from coach Luca Banchi to wake up his troops was beneficial. A zone tied the knot and with five straight points from Marcus Keene, the Sigmen rallied to 17-18 at the end of the first quarter. Until then, the blond point guard TJ Shorts was well held.
The game was on. Bodian Massa made his athletic qualities appreciated on both sides of the field. Only, in the middle of the second quarter, we witnessed a second outbreak of Bonn which this one caused enormous damage: 22-35 with a 0-13. A three-pointer from TJ Shorts and the German fans then shouted “MVP! MVP! “. We had the impression that this second round was being played in Germany. It was above all the precision of Sebastian Herrera (4/4 from three-pointers) that blew up the defense of the SIG. The Alsatians also lost too many balls (11 in 20 minutes). So that their delay was calculated at 13 points at halftime (28-41).
I just don’t run
Like these two missed free throws from Marcus Keene, the Sigmen showed too much inaccuracy to confuse the Germans. At 35-52 (24th), the alert rating was reached. Luca Banchi threw a big anger to go up the springs of his players, but nothing helped (39-60). Former Limougeaud Javontae Hawkins (15 points in the end) was the author of a sequence during which he abused three-point shots, but that had no impact.
The heads of the Alsatians on the bench were grim and reflected their helplessness. A run initiated by DeAndre Lansdowne finally gave voice to the public and above all a bit of hope to the SIG (54-64). Marcus Keene (20 points) followed with his sense of the basket and acrobatics. The SIG came back to 62-70 and again to 64-72, but the comeback had been triggered much too late to succeed, and the Germans appeared too solid to be really threatened.
The boxscore is HERE.
Photo : Deane Williams (FIBA)
