EWE Baskets Oldenburg collected their first victory of the easyCredit BBL Final Tournament 2020 as they raced away from BG Göttingen 80-62 thanks to a strong Rasid Mahalbasic.
The Austrian big man collected 22 points to go with 7 rebounds and 3 assists for Oldenburg, who won after losing their opening game in Group A against ratiopharm ulm. Rickey Paulding scored 15 points while Nathan Boothe chipped in 14 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks for Oldenburg, who will take a 1-1 record into their next game against HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim on Friday June 12.
Göttingen were unable to come up with another surprise after knocking off Crailsheim in the opening game of the tournament. But Johan Rojakkers’ team had to play without Alex Ruoff, who was dealing with back spasms. Terry Allen led the way for Göttingen with 16 points while Dennis Kramer scored 12 points, Dominic Lockhart had 11 points and Bennet Hundt scored 10 points. Göttingen next play FC Bayern Munich on Friday, June 12.
Mathis Mönninghoff, Allen and Hundt all hit three-pointers as Göttingen went ahead 9-5 in the opening minutes. Braydon Hobbs knocked down a trey at the other end and Tyler Larson also hit from long range in a 12-4 run to push Oldenburg ahead 19-15. Robin Amaize picked up two baskets and Oldenburg were up 23-18 after 10 minutes.
Allen’s three-ball evened the game 23-23 early in the second quarter with Oldenburg responding with the next six points. Mahalbasic also had two baskets and the northern Germans led 33-27. Hobbs added two more scores and Paulding’s three-ball had Oldenburg up 42-36 and the gap was 44-39 at intermission.
Mahalbasic opened the second half and gave Oldenburg a seven-point lead 46-39 only to see Kramer throw down two dunks at the other end. Two Mahalbasic free throws and another Paulding triple sparked a 14-4 Oldenburg run to move ahead 62-49 and led 64-52 after 30 minutes.
Allen drained a three-ball early in the fourth quarter but Boothe also knocked down a trey and had two more jumpers in a 9-2 surge to lead 75-57 and decide the game for good. Göttingen did not get closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
QUOTES: Oldenburg’s Rickey Paulding: “We had a lot more energy, a lot more focus. It was tough having a game after three months but we felt more like ourselves today. And that was the difference for us.
“We’re officially here. We like how we played today. Obviously there are things we can improve on and get better but this was a good showing for us and hopefully we can continue with this.”
Göttingen’s Dennis Kramer: “Oldenburg found their rhythm after the first game. Still, we played with a lot of energy and fight. In the end, this is the result but I think we had energy the whole game.”