SG Flensburg-Handewitt had won the last five national derbies in the DAIKIN HBL. Now they were beaten 33:37. They go into the break with 39:11 points. The sound bites.
Lasse Møller, SG backcourt ace: "It was not a day on which we were able to pick up two points. The start was okay, but we didn't find any solutions in defense. We showed mental character and stood together until the end. Now we have a week to look in the mirror and see what we can do better."
Aleš Pajović, SG coach: "This defeat hurts. Marko Grgic was ill and Simon Pytlick was struggling - the squad was already very tight. The team fought. What didn't work was the interplay between the defense and goalkeeper. It's difficult when you're six goals behind. When we stepped on the gas after the break and got to within four, we missed two or three chances - and then things went very quickly. If you want to win against Kiel, everything has to go right. We can thank our fans for their support. My boys really wanted to do well, but unfortunately it didn't work out."
Andreas Wolff, goalkeeper THW Kiel: "It's been a few days since we won a derby in the DAIKIN HBL. So this win was very important and did us good. The last few games in the DAIKIN HBL didn't match our standards at all. We got into the game very well because we were very motivated and well prepared."