Joventut Badalona kept on rolling by overturning an early double-digit lead to claim a 75-92 road win at Hamburg Towers. Hamburg raced into a 16-6 advantage as Joventut struggled to find any offense, before the visitors responded to make it 38-37 at the interval. The Spanish side surged clear early in the third quarter, moving into a 46-62 lead which was never overturned despite a Hamburg rally in the fourth.
Joventut comes from behind to defeat Hamburg, 75-92
Joel Parra led the winners with a career-high 18 points, while Pep Busquets and Derek Willis both scored 11 and Pau Ribas added 10. Hamburg’s Caleb Homesley led all scorers with 22 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting. Justus Hollatz scored 14, Maik Kotsar added 12 and Jaylon Brown contributed 10. Joventut is now top of Group A with a 9-2 record after five straight wins, while Hamburg drops to 4-7.
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Brown and Ferran Bassas traded triples in a low-scoring start to the game. Brown scored again and Eddy Edigin added a pair of close-range baskets as Hamburg led 11-4 midway through the first. Homesley made another three-pointer and Hollatz struck inside to make it a double-digit game, 16-6. Ribas and Busquets were on target from deep to pull Joventut closer, but a triple from Hollatz made it 22-12 at the end of the first. Parra fired 5 fast points to narrow the gap early in the second, before Hollatz and Homesley stretched the lead back to double digits. A deep three from Ribas was cancelled out by inside scores from Kotsar and Homesley, making it 34-24. But the previously scoreless Ante Tomic came to life with 5 points and Bassas sank another triple, before Kotsar and Tomic again scored inside to make it 38-37 at halftime.
Busquets started the second half with a three-point play for Joventut’s first lead, before Vladimir Brodziansky scored his first two baskets. Brown’s corner three briefly kept Hamburg close, but Busquets followed a three-pointer with a layup before Simon Birgander added a putback for a 43-51 lead. Bassas, Brodziansky and Albert Ventura were on target from deep and Ventura added a transition score to make it 46-62. Robin Christen and Kotsar combined on a 7-2 run to boost Hamburg, and Homesley struck a triple to make it 56-66 with ten minutes left. Kotsar scored the first 4 points of the final period to give Hamburg hope, and Hollatz added a corner three for a 63-68 score. But Willis and Parra kept Joventut ahead, and Tomic converted an offensive rebound to restore a double-digit lead, 67-77. Birgander added a dunk and free throws from Parra extended the lead to 67-83 to seal the outcome. Two more triples from Homesley were in vain, as Joventut closed out the game with a Parra triple and three-point play.