Bennet Hundt picked the absolute perfect time to have the game of his life as he scored a career-high 30 points in helping BG Göttingen open the easyCredit BBL Final Tournament 2020 to a surprise win – with the whole basketball world watching.

Hundt drained five three-pointers to go with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in Göttingen’s 89-78 win over HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim. While there were no fans in the Audi Dome in Munich because the tournament is being played out in front of empty stands, the world was anxious and starved for live basketball since the outbreak of Covid-19.

“I felt good from the beginning. The first three-pointer fell and it just rolled. But I think we moved the ball well so that I got open shots,” said Hundt, whose previous career high was 25 points.

Hundt will go down in history in scoring the first points of the tournament, draining a three-pointer from the right wing after an offensive rebound.
Göttingen head coach Johan Roijakkers was not surprised with Hundt’s performance – especially because of his work ethic during the pandemic.

“He was in the gym twice a day. He did everything individually. It’s no coincidence. When you work hard you get something like this. He has a high understanding of the game and when you combine that with work ethic,” said the coach.

Roijakkers continued: “He has big balls. It doesn’t matter who he plays against. He’s pretty cocky on the court. Off the court, he’s a small teddy bear. We are very happy with Bennet. A great guy. When someone works so hard, you are happy for him.”

Hundt arrived in Göttingen this season after growing up in the ALBA BERLIN ranks. And he has a great start to the 2019-20 season. He collected two points-assists double-doubles in the first three games and also poured in 25 points against MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg in the fifth game of the season. For his first five games, Hundt averaged 15.6 points while shooting 42.3 percent on three-pointers and dished out 7.0 assists and only 2.4 turnovers for an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.92 in nearly 30 minutes a game. But after the calendar turned from October to November, Hundt had been stripped of his minutes, reaching 20 minutes only twice in the final 15 games with the only other big game coming against FC Bayern Munich in December when he had 19 points on 4 three-pointers to go with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

With Anderson not with Göttingen in Munich, it was time for Hundt to shine. And he was ready.

“In the end, you don’t know what the main factor was something like this. But I definitely kept myself fit and I was always ready for it to re-start. I was really happy that it re-started,” he said. “You never expect this. Sure, you can dream. But you also have to remain realistic. I had a good day. I felt good. In the end the victory is the most important thing. And I was happy about that.”

Hundt’s efforts were aided at least slightly by the fact that Crailsheim’s DeWayne Russell was dealing with an injury. Hundt admitted noticing the opponent struggling but it was still up to him to play his game.

“I knew that (Russell) was having problems a couple of times – also in timeouts. But I wanted to be aggressive from the start. Regardless of who is facing me – if they are top-fit or injured. It doesn’t make any difference to me. I just try to play my game, give 100 percent and to attack,” Hundt said.

And with the world starved for basketball, it was the perfect time for Hundt to stand out. The 1998-born playmaker is automatically eligible for the 2020 NBA Draft and there were posts on Twitter about Hundt raising his draft stock.

First there is the rest of this historic tournament.

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