– David Hein
RASTA Vechta shocked the league with a major upset as they blew out easyCredit BBL leaders FC Bayern Munich at home. The weekend also had another surprise blowout as EWE Baskets Oldenburg raced past ALBA BERLIN in the German capital. Oh … and Eisbären Bremerhaven snapped their 16-game losing streak.
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:
Vechta continue magical season, shock Bayern with blowout at home
RASTA Vechta continued their magical season back in the easyCredit BBL by shocking the runaway league leaders FC Bayern Munich with a 95-78 blowout victory at home. Vechta were already up 53-40 at halftime and finished off Bayern for good with a 26-15 third quarter and led by as many as 24 points. Vechta forced 20 Bayern turnovers and Austin Hollins led the way with 20 points while Clint Chapman scored 16 points in his first game with the team. TJ Bray added 14 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists as Vechta improved to 17-6 in third place. Bayern have now dropped two of their last three but still have a two-game lead over EWE Baskets Oldenburg with a 20-2 record. Derrick Williams paced Bayern with 21 points while Vladimir Lucic and Danilo Barthel both had 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
Oldenburg too much for Berlin in road victory
EWE Baskets Oldenburg proved too much for ALBA BERLIN on the road as they collected a 94-78 victory. Oldenburg, who have the comfort of not playing internationally this season, took over in the third quarter 25-11 and won their fifth straight including a victory over FC Bayern Munich to move to 18-4. Will Cummings paced Oldenburg with 34 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, Nathan Boothe scored 20 points, Rickey Paulding had 15 points and Rasid Mahalbasic picked up 11 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Berlin shot just 40 percent for the game including 5-of-19 (26 percent) from three point range in seeing their four game winning streak end for a 15-5 record. Landry Nnoko led Berlin with 14 points and 7 rebounds and Martin Hermannsson had 13 points.
Bremerhaven finally win again, win at home over Jena
Eisbären Bremerhaven finally won again as they prevailed in a battle at home over Science City Jena 76-74 to end a 16-game losing streak. The game went back and forth with seven points being the biggest lead and Darious Moten stole the ball from Immanuel McElroy with 11 seconds left before Chris Warren hit the game-winning free throws with 6 seconds to play. Julius Jenkins missed a three-pointer at the buzzer for Jena. New Bremerhaven coach Michael Mai only used eight players with Keith Benson collecting 18 points and 8 rebounds, Warren adding 15 points and 7 assists and Elston Turner picking up 11 points and 8 assists. Bremerhaven are now 4-19 in last place while Mitteldeutscher BC are 4-18. Jena have lost three straight and nine in a row on the road despite Jenkins’ 19 points and 5 rebounds. McElroy had 18 points, Ronald Roberts chipped in 13 points and 9 rebounds and Dru Joyce added 10 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals for Jena, who are now 5-17 in the league.
Bamberg keep on winning, beat Ulm in offensive spectacle
Cup winners Brose Bamberg won another offensive shootout as they took down ratiopharm ulm 103-94 at home for their sixth straight victory. Bamberg trailed by 12 points in the first quarter but led by 19 points in the third quarter, which they took 29-17. Seven Bamberg players scored in double figures with Augustine Rubit and Bryce Taylor hitting 15 points each, Elias Harris and Cliff Alexander scoring 14 points each and Nikos Zisis adding 13 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. New coach Federico Perego has still not lost in Germany and Bamberg are 16-5. Ulm have lost two straight and four of five to fall to 11-11. Patrick Miller led Ulm with 20 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals, Dwayne Evans had 20 points and 8 rebounds and Javonte Green scored 19 points. Both teams made 37-of-60 shots but Bamberg made 12-of-28 three-pointers for 43 percent and Ulm hit just 2-of-13 three-pointers for 15 percent.
Braunschweig win shootout at Ludwigsburg
Basketball Löwen Braunschweig continue to show they belong in the fight for the playoffs as they won a shootout at MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg 104-94. Braunschweig took over late in the third quarter with four three-pointers in a 17-3 run to improve to 12-11 with their second straight win. DeAndre Lansdowne had 26 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, Brayon Blake scored 18 points, Christian Sengfelder added 18 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists and Joe Rahon pitched in 8 points and 8 assists. Ludwigsburg have dropped two of their last three to fall to 11-11 despite Marcos Knight tallying 24 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 1 block and Adam Waleskowski scoring 20 points.
Bayreuth use fourth quarter run to beat Giessen at home
medi bayreuth used a big fourth quarter run to grab a 95-80 victory at home over GIESSEN 46ers for a crucial win in the battle for the playoffs. Giessen led by six points late in the third quarter but Bayreuth went on a 20-4 surge in the final frame and ended up winning the head-to-head tiebreaker with Giessen. Bayreuth turned the ball over just six times and had six players score in double figures as Gregor Hrovat had 16 points, Eric Mika picked up 13 points and 5 rebounds and De’Mon Brooks added 13 points and 8 rebounds as Bayreuth won their second game in three contests to move to 11-11. Giessen were paced by Larry Gordon with 21 points and 4 rebounds while John Bryant had 16 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 block and Jared Jordan chipped in 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal. But they were not enough as Giessen dropped their second straight to fall to 11-12.
Bonn beat Crailsheim on the road for fourth straight win
Telekom Baskets Bonn remained atop a massive fight for the playoffs with an 88-87 win at HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim. Bonn came back from 11 points down in the second quarter and were still down nine points early in the fourth quarter. But Josh Mayo made the game-winning free throw with 0.3 seconds left on the clock for Bonn’s fourth straight win to move to 12-10 - in sixth place ahead of six teams with either 11 of 12 wins. Mayo had 17 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists for the winners while James Webb III picked up 16 points including two big three-pointers in the final 2 minutes and TJ DiLeo added 15 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. Crailsheim turned the ball over just seven times but could not grab a third straight win in falling to 5-17 despite Ben Madgen’s 23 points while Dewayne Russell had 18 points and 5 assists.
Three-pointers carry Frankfurt to win at Göttingen
FRAPORT SKYLINERS nailed 18 three-pointers in picking up an 81-70 victory at BG Göttingen to snap a three-game losing streak. Frankfurt pulled away in the fourth quarter and Quantez Robertson led the way with 18 points including 4 three-pointers. Garai Zeeb also had 4 three-pointers in scoring 13 points while Tyler Larson had 13 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals and Leon Kratzer chipped in 8 points and 12 rebounds. SKYLINERS are down in 13th place with an 8-12 record but have played two games fewer than the other teams in the playoffs race. Göttingen have now lost five straight and fell to 7-16 despite Michael Stockton picking up 17 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists and Mihaljo Andric tallying 15 points and 4 rebounds.
Würzburg pull away for home victory over MBC
s.Oliver Würzburg fended off a strong effort by Mitteldeutscher BC to win at home 84-77 to move into a playoffs spot. The game was tight until Würzburg went on a 12-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarter and pushed the lead to 14 points in the final frame to snap a two-game losing streak and move to 11-11. Xavier Cooks had 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals while Jordan Hulls added 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in the win. Five MBC players scored in double figures, led by Jovan Novak with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals. But MBC have lost two in a row and are 4-18 in 17th place.
Player of the Week
Will Cummings takes Player of the Week honors this week with a masterful performance for EWE Baskets Oldenburg against ALBA BERLIN with 34 points on 11-of-17 shooting and 9-of-10 free throws, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and only 2 turnovers in 33:55 minutes for an efficiency of 37.
German Top Five of the Week
G: TJ DiLeo, Telekom Baskets Bonn
DiLeo is back again … Bonn’s playmaker had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in a big win over HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim.
G: Bastian Doreth, medi bayreuth
Doreth makes the list this week as he scored 12 points with 4-of-7 three-pointers to go with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in the win over GIESSEN 46ers.
F: Fabian Bleck, Eisbären Bremerhaven
Elias Harris of Brose Bamberg could have been given this spot with 14 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists against ratiopharm ulm but Bleck deserves to be on here as he helped Bremerhaven end their 16-game losing streak with 12 points and 8 rebounds against Science City Jena.
F: Christian Sengfelder, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
Sengfelder has been great all season in his rookie campaign and he collected 18 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 0 turnovers in Braunschweig’s big win over MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg.
C: Leon Kratzer, FRAPORT SKYLINERS
Kratzer is back on this list again as well as the 22-year-old collected 8 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in 25:52 minutes against BG Göttingen.
Glänzt in dieser Saison immer mehr als Vorbereiter: @tdileo#HEARTBERG #easyCreditBBL pic.twitter.com/mVRbtfbcjL
— Telekom Baskets Bonn (@TelekomBaskets) March 10, 2019
Young Guns
Luc van Slooten, 16, SF, RASTA Vechta
Van Slooten maybe thought he could get some garbage minutes against FC Bayern Munich but it definitely wasn’t expected in a Vechta blowout of the reigning champions. But the 16-year-old talent scored his first points in the easyCredit BBL with a steal and dunk just before the buzzer. All told, van Slooten had 2 points on 1-of-3 shots and 1 steal in 1:36 minutes in his ninth appearance.
Garai Zeeb, 21, PG, FRAPORT SKYLINERS
Zeeb scored a career high 13 points with 4-of-7 three-pointers to go with 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal against BG Göttingen - which was Zeeb’s 50th game in the easyCredit BBL.
Tim Uhlemann, 19, PF, GIESSEN 46ers
Uhlemann picked up 1 assist in 2:47 minutes against medi bayreuth. It was the 19-year-old’s second appearance in the easyCredit BBL after playing 53 seconds and collecting no stats against MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg on December 30.
Der Moment wenn du deine ersten Punkte in der #easyCreditBBL machst.
— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) March 11, 2019
Per Dunk.
Als 16-Jähriger.
Gegen den deutschen Meister.
Beim 18-Punkte-Heimsieg.
CC: @SlootenLuc, @scrastavechta pic.twitter.com/eUQJeLe7r3
Olinde Watch
Louis Olinde picked up 2 points on 1-of-3 shots to go with 2 rebounds and 1 turnover in 11:49 minutes for Brose Bamberg in their win over ratiopharm ulm. The 20-year-old started the game once again and continues to concentrate on the small details of the game.
Germans Abroad
Sheldon Eberhardt of Elon University was named the Sixth Man of the Year by the Colonial Athletic Association for the 2018-19 season. The 22-year-old Eberhardt, who was born in Pforzheim and played in the Karlsruhe youth ranks, ranked third on the team in scoring at 10.1 points while dishing out a team-high 3.3. assists to go with 3.1 rebounds (video).
LIVE ???? @EliasJMHarris sieht den hereinfliegenden @louisolinde ✈️ #neueROTation pic.twitter.com/yLZAe8EkiE
— Brose Bamberg (@BroseBamberg) March 10, 2019
