Photo: Yahoo Sports

Last year’s regular season champions MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg started the 2021-22 easyCredit BBL campaign with a late-thriller 88-87 win over Hamburg Towers.

Hamburg Towers compelled Ludwigburg to a slow start, as Pedro Calles’ squad took an 11-21 lead with three minutes remaining for the end of the first quarter.

The last season’s regular season champions rallied back and took a 48-47 lead at the half thanks to veteran forward Tremmel Darden, who had an outstanding game for John Patrick’s team.

Both teams continued on a high-pace type of game in the second half and remained close to each other scoring-wise until the end of the game.

Darden had a key block on Hamburg’s Eddy Edigin during the final moments of the game, while Hamburg’s top scorer Jaylon Brown missed a potential three-point winner at the end of the game.

Tremmel Darden had an impressive start to the season with 21 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, while MPH Riesen’s promising guard Jonah Radebaugh played a huge role for the winning side with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists.

As for Hamburg Towers, who failed to start the year with a win, Jaylon Brown finished the contest with a game-high 24 points, making two threes and ten free throws.

Rest of Saturday’s easyCredit BBL action

During Saturday’s action on the German BBL, three more games took place as Crailsheim run away in the second half with a 33-7 run to secure a 111-84 win over s.Oliver WĂĽrzburg.

Six Crailsheim players scored in double figures – topped by Terrell Harris off the bench with 20 points, but, TJ Shorts was pulling the strings for the winning side as he poured in 15 points and also delivered 11 assists.

Heidenberg returned to the German top-tier league and secured their first victory in 36 years over MBC (74-85), using an 11-2 run to finish the game.

In a game that was exciting up to the last second, the Niners Chemnitz defeated the EWE Baskets Oldenburg 79-78. The Niners withstand the incredible performance of Oldeburg’s guard Max Heidegger, who finished the contest with 34 points.