Up by two at halftime, and by two at the final whistle as well. SG Flensburg-Handewitt defeated TBV Lemgo Lippe 34–32 (18–16) at the Wartburg Cup. Tomorrow, Sunday, they’ll face SC Magdeburg in their final match.
The temperature rose above 30 degrees—and it was hot inside the arena, too. But the SG kept their cool and got off to a dream 8–2 start against TBV Lemgo Lippe. Their 6–0 defense held up well, and they had good depth on offense. The Westphalians stepped up their game and led 15–14 shortly before halftime. The SG, on the other hand, began to rack up turnovers in fast breaks and missed shots. “On defense, we lost too many one-on-one battles and missed some sure-fire scoring opportunities up front,” observed SG coach Aleš Pajović. “But that happens during preseason.” The SG turned the tide before halftime.
Solid overall against seven attackers
The second half remained close. While the SG played well defensively against the opponent’s seven attackers, they missed a few too many chances on offense to pull away decisively. They responded well through the fast break. The SG rotated the lineup a bit less than usual. Simon Möller even stood between the posts for nearly the entire 60 minutes and played his part in the SG’s 34–32 victory. “I’m not satisfied with our offense for the full 60 minutes, but I am for 40 of them,” summarized Aleš Pajović. Lasse Möller said: “We came into the game with a good game plan. But against a team as strong as Lemgo, there are always phases when things get difficult. Overall, we had more good phases than our opponent.”
SG Flensburg-Handewitt: Burić (on one 7-meter throw), Möller (12 saves) – Pytlick (4), Kirkeløkke (1), Bergholt (4), Grgić (2), Horgen (4), Volz (2), Jakobsen (5/5), Arnarsson (1), Minne (7), Møller (4)
