– David Hein
FC Bayern Munich took the season series against Brose Bamberg with a strong comeback victory in Freak City. The weekend also saw John Bryant put toge-ther another outstanding showing - this time in a win against his former team ratiopharm ulm. And FC Bayern Munich came up with a historic second place at the Munich Adidas Next Generation Tournament.
In this section, we break out our English language skills and inform you about the latest news from the German easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga. If you’re short on time but still want your fill of Germany’s top basketball league then you are in the right place. Every week David Hein (www.heinnews.com) brings you up-to-date in German basketball – the easyCredit BBL short and sweet:
Bayern come back to win season series against Bamberg
There was a feeling of the playoffs in the air Sunday night as easyCredit BBL leaders FC Bayern Munich were in Freak City to face the reigning champions Brose Bamberg. Bamberg started on fire but it in the end it was Bayern who prevailed with a 71-63 victory. Bamberg led 10-0 after 2 minutes and 25-11 after the first quarter. But Bayern conceded just 10 points in the second quarter and just nine in the fourth in extending their winning streak to 16 games and improving their record to 19-1. Danilo Barthel led the way with 20 points and nine rebounds while Devin Booker collected 10 points, 10 rebounds and a team-high six assists. Bayern won both easyCredit BBL season games against Bamberg for the first time since the 2013-14 season - when Bayern also hoisted the trophy. Bamberg’s struggles continued despite 12 points from both Daniel Hackett and Maodo Lo. The champs are still 8th in the standings with an 11-9 record but have lost three straight games and five of the last seven.
LIVE: Und dann macht es BÄM! @J1Flight stopft für den @fcb_basketball und erzielt so den 44:45-Anschluss. #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/vcBHfxOTIx
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) February 11, 2018
Berlin pull away in fourth for sixth straight win
ALBA BERLIN picked up their sixth straight victory by getting past Science City Jena - and a slew of former Berlin players - 99-89 on the road. The game was back and forth until the fourth quarter when Berlin pulled away, led by Luke Sikma’s 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists while Marius Grigonis had 17 points. Berlin’s sixth win in a row moved their mark to 14-6 in second place. Jena got 23 points, five rebounds and five assists from Kyle Weaver but they were not enough as Jena dropped their third straight game for an 8-13 record in 13th place. Weaver was one of five former Berlin players on Jena’s roster for the game along with Julius Jenkins, Derrick Allen, Martynas Mazeika and Oliver Clay.
Willkommen im Zirkus@LCSikma43 pic.twitter.com/4k7RVMHTQO
— ALBA BERLIN (@albaberlin) February 10, 2018
Ludwigsburg beat Bonn in offensive spectacle
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg remained right on ALBA BERLIN’s heals after winning an offensive spectacle, 109-105 at Telekom Baskets Bonn. The 214 points scored is a season high for the easyCredit BBL. It was the first time since 2011 that Bonn lost a game on Carnival weekend. Justin Sears paced Ludwigsburg with 22 points and eight rebounds off the bench while Thomas Walkup had 17 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Ludwigsburg remain in third place with a 15-4 record after a third straight win and sixth in seven games. Josh Mayo had 24 points and Tomislav Zubcic added 22 points but they were not enough as Bonn had their three-game winning streak snapped in falling to 13-8 in fifth place.
Abgekocht...Walkup serviert, Cook lässt es scheppern #ihrundwir #easycreditbbl pic.twitter.com/X4iQ7B1AaW
— MHP RIESEN (@MHP_RIESEN) February 10, 2018
Bayreuth pull away in fourth, keep Tübingen winless on the road
medi bayreuth gladly saw the Telekom Baskets Bonn loss as Bayreuth moved 1.5 games ahead of them in the standings after an 85-71 win at home over WALTER Tigers Tübingen. Bayreuth got 21 points from Assem Marei while Andi Seiferth added 12 points and six rebounds. The Franconian side have grabbed five wins in their last six games to move to 14-6 in fourth place. Malcolm Lee’s 18 points off the bench were not enough for Tübingen, who have lost nine straight and are 1-19 in last place - without a road victory this season.
Irgendwie fehlt das Glück...immer wieder spielen wir uns gut frei, aber der Ball will einfach nicht in den Korb. Dennoch alles drin! 36:42-Rückstand gegen @medibayreuth zur Halbzeit. #zähnezeigen #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/BvA123tEy5
— WALTER Tigers (@WalterTigers) February 10, 2018
Bryant dominates in return to Ulm as Giessen win
John Bryant dominated in his return to Ulm in leading GIESSEN 46ers to a 95-90 victory over ratiopharm ulm. The two-time former MVP was playing in Ulm for the first time with Giessen and he continued his impressive form with 33 points and 13 rebounds as Giessen grabbed the lead in the first quarter and never gave it up the rest of the way. Darvin Davis added 18 points and six assists as Giessen won their second straight and third in four games to improve to 11-10 in 11th place. Isaac Fotu provided for a great big man matchup with 24 points and nine rebounds for Ulm and Da’Sean Butler added 22 points in the loss, which snapped Ulm’s three-game winning streak and leaves the team at 12-8 in seventh place.
LIVE: Wer trifft, hat Recht. Erst recht, wenn es der Dagger sein könnte. @aHolli_20 mit dem Steal und Dunk für die Sechs-Punkte-Führung der @GIESSEN46ers. #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/LIQRV7NUvg
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) February 10, 2018
Oldenburg use big second half run to race past Rocket
EWE Baskets Oldenburg used a big second half run to race away from Rockets 88-68 to win at home. Oldenburg had a 17-0 start to the third quarter and that was more than enough as Oldenburg won their fourth game in the last five to move to 13-8 in sixth place. Five Oldenburg players scored in double figures paced by Mickey McConnell’s 14 points while Rasid Mahalbasic picked up 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists off the bench. Rockets dropped their fifth game in a row to fall to 4-17 in 17th place. Johannes Richter and Andi Obst both scored 14 points for Rockets while Jan Niklas Wimberg had three points and two rebounds in his return to Oldenburg.
Braunschweig win third straight, Frankfurt slumping
Basketball Löwen Braunschweig collected their third straight victory as they used a big fourth quarter run for a 77-74 win over FRAPORT SKYLINERS. Braunschweig went on a 14-0 run in the final stanza for their first three-game winning streak since May 1, 2016. DeAndre Lansdowne led the way with 23 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals while Bazou Kone had 16 points and four assists and Scott Eatherton added 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Braunschweig jumped to 10-12 in 12th place. Frankfurt have lost two straight and four of five in dropping to 11-9 in ninth place. Philip Scrubb played for the first time since December 9 and led Frankfurt with 16 points, three rebounds and two assists.
So geht´s! Schöne Pass von Tai auf AJ, um den Braunschweiger Lauf zu unter-brechen. pic.twitter.com/XcAJ3nElgt
— FRAPORT SKYLINERS (@skyliners1999) February 8, 2018
Würzburg on fire from long range in win over Göttingen
s.Oliver Würzburg caught fire from long range and pulled away from BG Göttingen for a 95-82 victory. Würzburg made just one of their first eight three-point attempts but then nailed 13 of the next 15 to snap their two-game losing streak and improve to 11-10 in 10th place. Robin Benzing had 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals while Clifford Hammonds added 16 points and five assists. Göttingen were paced by Brion Rush with 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals while Harper Kamp had 18 points in the loss. Göttingen have lost 10 straight games in falling to 4-16 in 17th place.
10 von 12 Dreierversuchen in der zweiten Halbzeit erfolgreich - hier zu sehen ei-ner von Clifford Hammonds.
— #PureEmotion (@soliver_wue) February 9, 2018
Unsere Besten gegen die @BGGoettingen:
CLIFF 16/3, ROBIN 16/2 (9 Reb.), KRESO 14/3, @gaddy253 13/2, E.J: 11/3; MOE 9/1, LIPKE 8/1 (4 Steals), OWEN 8 (8 Rebounds).#SOWGOE pic.twitter.com/OmYaKtaW8r
MBC beat Bremerhaven in great Jones-Hulls showdown
Mitteldeutscher BC picked up their second win in a row in knocking off Eisbären Bremerhaven 98-90. The game saw a great showdown between MBC’s Lamont Jones, who had 27 points and five assists, and Bremerhaven’s Jordan Hulls, who had 31 points in the loss. MBC are 14th in the league with a 7-14 record while Bremehaven have dropped three of four in falling to 5-16 in 15th place.
Dreiergott @JordanHulls1 war „on fire“ beim Raubtierduell gegen die @mbcwoelfe. Zum Sieg hat’s (leider) trotzdem nicht gereicht. Die Highlights aus dem Wolfsbau. #wirsindalleeisbären pic.twitter.com/2B3NAfscug
— Eisbären Bremerhaven (@Die_Eisbaeren) February 11, 2018
Bryant only tied Wucherer’s efficiency mark
The easyCredit BBL has corrected John Bryant’s statline from GIESSEN 46ers’ game against EWE Baskets Oldenburg earlier this season, which changed Bryant’s record-breaking game to a record-tying performance. The league took away an assist and rebound that had been credited improperly to Bryant in that game. That left Bryant’s efficiency for that game at 48 and not 50, which evened the league best mark of Denis Wucherer from 2004. The league has been keeping digital records since 1998.
Player of the Week
John Bryant continued his outstanding season with another Player of the Week showing in GIESSEN 46ers’ win at ratiopharm ulm. The two-time MVP collected 33 points on 10-of-15 shots and 10-of-10 free throws to go with 13 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and just two turnovers for an efficiency of 46 against his former team.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Maodo Lo, Brose Bamberg
Lo did his best to help Bamberg to a victory over FC Bayern Munich. But his 12 points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal were not enough.
G: Bazou Kone, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
Kone helped Braunschweig win their third straight game with 16 points off the bench to go along with one rebound, four assists and one steal.
LIVE: So, jetzt alle die Hände hoch - wer hat mit so einem Start von @BroseBamberg gerechnet? #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/Y5XDPP1BCJ
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) February 11, 2018
G: TJ DiLeo, Telekom Baskets Bonn
DiLeo had a great game against MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg with 18 points, three rebounds, five assists and one steal - though the team lost.
F: Robin Benzing, s.Oliver Würzburg
Benzing helped Würzburg to a win over BG Göttingen with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
F: Danilo Barthel, FC Bayern Munich
Barthel has been fantastic of late and he was dominant against Brose Bamberg with 20 points and nine rebounds in the big road victory.
LIVE: @TDileo von den @TelekomBaskets hat sich soeben für die nächste Leichtathletik-WM qualifiziert - Dis-ziplin Weitwurf#Karnevalsspiel #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/8bC9ZeOuHa
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) February 10, 2018
Young Guns
Richard Freudenberg, 19, SF, FRAPORT SKYLINERS
Freudenburg is slowly starting to contribute more after coming back from an injury and he had a career-high 11 points in hitting 4-of-7 shots and 2-of-2 three-pointers while also adding four rebounds, two assists and one block against Basketball Löwen Braunschweig.
Tim Schneider, 20, PF, ALBA BERLIN
Schneider collected 10 points and three rebounds in 17:49 minutes against Science City Jena. It was the first time the 20-year-old reached double digits scoring since December 23.
Ferdinand Zylka, 19, SG, Rockets
Zylka played 15:38 minutes in his second game for Rockets, scoring six points on 2-of-3 three-pointers and grabbing two rebounds against EWE Baskets Oldenburg.
22:19-Führung für die Gastgeber nach dem ersten Viertel pic.twitter.com/a3eEHYIv02
— FRAPORT SKYLINERS (@skyliners1999) February 8, 2018
Bonga Watch
Isaac Bonga had a solid performance for FRAPORT SKYLINERS in their loss to Basketball Löwen Braunschweig. The 18-year-old point guard scored eight points on 3-of-4 shots and 2-of-2 free throws in 21:12 minutes. He also had two rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block while committing four turnovers.
Bayern take second place at Adidas Next Generation Tournament
FC Bayern Munich had a successful performance at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in Munich over the weekend, taking second place to Real Madrid. Bayern, who were hosting the event for the first time became the first German team to reach the final of a qualifying event for the U18 tournament. ALBA BERLIN took third place, Brose Bamberg finished sixth and ratiopharm ulm grabbed seventh place. Bayern’s Kilian Binapfl and Henri Drell of Bamberg were both selected for the All-Tournament Team.
Frankfurt coach Herbert named to coach Canada in World Cup qualifiers
FRAPORT SKYLINERS head coach Gordon Herbert was named as Canada’s head coach for the up-coming FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers. Herbert will serve as a fill-in coach for the Canadians in their two games in Bahamas on February 22 against Virgin Islands and February 25 against Bahamas.
Germans Abroad
Christian Sengfelder has been putting together a superb season for Boise State as the power forward is averaging 11.4 points and 6.3 rebounds. The 22-year-old has had two double-doubles this season and the top showing came against San Jose State as he poured in 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting including 5-of-6 from three-point range to go with eight rebounds. His most recent game saw him pick up 12 points and nine rebounds against Utah State.
