The reigning basketball champions Gmunden took the driver’s seat again in the best-of-5 quarter-final series and made it 2-1 with a deserved 82-66 (38-38) win over the Raiffeisen Flyers Wels in the 99th derby . So the Swans have their first match point tomorrow (7 p.m.) in the trade fair city. And that despite the fact that Toni Blazan, who was the outstanding man with 29 points in the first play-off duel eight days ago, was absent due to a feverish cold.
“It was a success for the entire team, who didn’t score as well as they could, but played superbly defensively for 35 minutes,” analyzed CFO Harald Stelzer. A good 1000 fans had gathered in the Volksbank Arena – including Ukrainian refugee families from the region, who had invited the Gmundners true to the motto “Swans for Ukraine”. Donation boxes were set up in the hall to help alleviate the suffering of those affected a little. A very noble action.
It wasn’t quite as harmonious on the parquet floor. As expected, it was an intense match with a total of 51 fouls. Flyers coach Sebastian Waser mocked the referee’s performance (“A catastrophe”), but for Stelzer the performance of the referees was “very decent”.
It is in the nature of a derby that opinions differ that this time CJ Anderson made his mark with 25 points, six rebounds and three assists. “There’s nothing better than playing against a great rival,” said the American, while his compatriot Jimbo Lull fought back tears for the Welser side. The 2.13 meter tall center was eliminated (without outside influence) with a suspected serious knee injury. Very bitter.
Source: Nachrichten
