BBA Gießen celebrates a narrow win against Cologne – Genius' comeback!

BBA Gießen celebrates a narrow win against Cologne – Genius' comeback!

In a thrilling duel in the youth Bundesliga, the BBA Gießen 46ers were challenged against RheinStars Cologne on Saturday evening. Just five seconds before the end, Elias Genius, in his comeback after a break due to injury, secured the narrow 90:88 victory with two decisive free throws. The game took place in the East Hall and was Giessen's third ProA game, which again ended with a breathtakingly close result. The audience was waiting for a real crime thriller, and they were not disappointed.

Both teams started the first quarter extremely evenly, and it was Ferdinand Trefzger from Cologne who dominated the game with 12 points in the first quarter. The first period ended with a tie of 22:22, but in the second quarter Cologne managed to pull ahead 52:43 at halftime. However, Giessen was relentless and picked up the pace in the third quarter. Jamal Seelig scored 12 points to ensure that Gießen led 69:65 before the end of the third quarter, before Cologne equalized to 69:69.

Intense final phase

The fourth quarter was a drama with a total of 13 lead changes and 14 ties. Steinhoff equalized to 88:88 with 31 seconds left, and the tension in the hall was literally palpable. Finally, Genius was fouled five seconds before the end and brought BBA Gießen to victory thanks to his strong nerves.

With this victory, the Giesseners celebrate their second win of the season and are confident about the next home game next Saturday, where bottom team Hagen will be guests. In this emotional game, the Giessen players contributed the following points: Steinhoff 20, Seelig 19/1, Wöllenstein 15, Nickel 10, Genius 7, Lockhart 6/1, Haas 5/1, Alic 3, Hegele 3/1, Schiettinger 2, Rashid and Thormeier.

Background information about the league

The current season of the Junior Basketball Bundesliga (NBBL) 2024/25, which began on October 13, 2024, is already the 19th season in this important league for talent. A total of 40 teams are at the start, divided into two main rounds. The main round A includes 16 teams, while the main round B consists of 24 teams. All teams compete against each other in home and away games. The final for the title will take place at the TOP4 tournament in Berlin-Charlottenburg. This season, FC Bayern Munich has shown itself strongly and was crowned NBBL champions by defeating Ratiopharm Ulm 89:73 in the final, which was accompanied by exciting periods of play (Wikipedia reports).

While other sports such as football attract a lot of attention at the same time - such as the game between Borussia Dortmund and FC Augsburg, which Dortmund won 1-0 - youth basketball remains an important part of the sports landscape that produces promising talent (Yahoo Sports reported).

All in all, Saturday was an emotional and successful day for the BBA Gießen 46ers, which will certainly increase the anticipation for the upcoming games. Let's see the team next week against Hagen!