There were a couple of big surprises this week in the easyCredit BBL but the big news is Hamburg Towers taking over the top spot in the league with their fifth straight win. NINERS Chemnitz pulled off a shocker as the won at MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg to snap the hosts’ 29-game home winning streak. s.Oliver Würzburg meanwhile surprised FC Bayern Munich at home by 20 points for their first win over Bayern in nearly nine years. And there is great news for easyCredit BBL fans around the world with LIVENow a new international broadcast partner.
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:
Watch the easyCredit BBL outside of Germany on LIVENow
With this being the English weekly wrap of the easyCredit BBL, let’s start off with some great news for league fans living outside of Germany. Up to two games per round will be broadcast live to more than 32 countries on four continents on LIVENow. The games will be shown on LIVENow in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden and Turkey in Europe; India, Japan as well as Latin America, Central America sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East/Northern Africa. The price is cost 1.99 euro per game, and there is no subscription model available. Up-coming games which will be broadcast are NINERS Chemnitz vs FC Bayern Munich in the MagentaSport BBL Pokal German Cup on November 14; ratiopharm ulm vs ALBA BERLIN in Round 8 on November 21; Brose Bamberg vs medi bayreuth in Round 9 on December 4; and ALBA BERLIN vs FC Bayern Munich in Round 10 on December 12. For more details, check out www.live-now.com or www.live-now.com/en-int/page/easycredit-basketball-bundesliga
Würzburg shock Bayern in Round 2 make-up
s.Oliver Würzburg shocked FC Bayern Munich with a 90-70 home victory for their first win over Bayern in almost exactly nine years. The Round 2 make-up game was tight throughout the first half until Würzburg exploded with a 16-4 run in the third quarter to secure their first defeat of Munich since November 3, 2012. The win gave Würzburg a 3-3 record and Bayern saw their four-game winning streak snapped in dropping to 4-2. Würzburg held Bayern to just 41.7 percent shooting and won the rebound battle 41-24. William Buford led the way with 23 points and 8 rebounds while Filip Stanic collected 17 points and 11 assists, Cameron Hunt picked up 14 points and 5 assists and Keron Johnson chipped in 13 points. Deshaun Thomas and Nihad Djedovic were Bayern’s top scorers with 12 points.
Chemnitz surprise Ludwigsburg on Susinskas tip-in, end Ludwigsburg home streak
NINERS Chemnitz handed MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg their first regular season home loss since May 2019 as they continued their strong start to the season with a 76-74 victory thanks to Mindaugas Susinksas’ tip-in with 6.6 seconds left. Chemnitz led most of the game and the advantage was 11 points early in the fourth quarter. But Ludwigsburg evened the game with 28 seconds left on a Justin Simon layup, setting up Susinksas’ heroics after Darius Atkins’ missed three-pointer to snap Ludwigsburg’s 29-game winning streak at home, giving both teams a 4-3 record. Ludwigsburg could not find any offensive rhythm, hitting just 39.4 percent from the field including 21.2 percent from long range as well as 62.5 percent from the foul line. Gerald Robinson paced Chemnitz with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists while Jonas Richter and Darius Atkins both scored 11 points and Isiaha Mike collected 9 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Rawle Alkins poured in 20 points for Ludwigsburg but Jordan Hulls was the only other player in double figures with 14 points.
Hamburg trounce Göttingen for fifth straight win, new league leaders
Hamburg Towers remained the hottest team in the league as they trounced BG Göttingen 83-46 at home for their fifth straight win to take over the top spot in the standings. Hamburg had already controlled the game but they blew it open for good with a 24-4 third quarter to move to 5-2 while Göttingen fell to 4-2. Göttingen, who set a club low in points scored since the start of data collection in 1998, could not get any offense going, committing 22 turnovers and shooting just 26.9 percent for the game and just 21.7 percent from long range. Jaylon Brown paced the winners with 22 points while Caleb Homesley and Maik Kotsar both scored 10 points. No Göttingen player scored in double figures with Akeem Vargas and Mathis Mönninghoff both picking up 8 points in the defeat.
Bonn fend off Würzburg, among quartet of league leaders
Telekom Baskets Bonn continued their strong season as they knocked off s.Oliver Würzburg 87-79 at home to take a spot among four teams atop the standings. Bonn took control of the game for good in the third quarter in building an 18-point lead to move to 5-2 while Würzburg dropped to 3-4 after failing to add a second win in the week following their surprise of FC Bayern Munich. Bonn forced 18 Würzburg turnovers and helped themselves with 18 offensive rebounds. Parker Jackson-Cartwright tallied 16 points and 8 assists in the win with Karsten Tadda also scoring 16 points and Saulius Kulvietis hitting for 14 points. Desi Rodriguez scored a game-high 18 points in the loss, William Bufford had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists and Cameron Hunt finished with 13 points and 7 assists.
Berlin not threatened against MBC at home
ALBA BERLIN took care of business with a convincing 92-72 home victory over SYNTAINICS MBC. Berlin grabbed control of the game in the second quarter and never let MBC threaten the remainder of the contest in moving to 4-3 while the guests dropped their third straight for a 3-4 record. Berlin drained 15-of-30 three-pointers for 50.0 percent and forced 17 MBC turnovers. Marcus Eriksson and Luke Sikma both scored 19 points for Berlin with Yovel Zoosman picking up 15 points and 7 rebounds. Jakub Garbacz was MBC’s leading scorer with 16 points and Nikola Rebic picked up 15 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in a losing effort.
Bayern rebound from Würzburg loss, ease past Oldenburg
FC Bayern Munich bounced back from their shocking loss to s.Oliver Würzburg with a 93-80 home win over struggling EWE Baskets Oldenburg. Bayern pulled away in the second quarter with a 25-13 frame and never looked back in moving to 5-2 while Oldenburg fell to 1-5 with a fifth straight loss. Bayern committed only 9 turnovers and shot 55.4 percent for the game while also converting 21-of-31 free throws compared to just 13-of-16 for Oldenburg. Deshaun Thomas led Bayern with 17 points, Vladimir Lucic scored 14 points and Othello Hunter added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Cameron Clark tallied 15 points and Phil Pressey scored 14 points in the loss.
Ulm blow 20-point lead, still roll past Braunschweig on road
ratiopharm ulm wasted a 20-point lead but still managed to roll past Basketball Löwen Braunschweig with a 90-76 road victory. Ulm built a 20-point lead in the first quarter but were trailing in the second quarter following a 23-0 Braunschweig run. The guests pulled back ahead by 17 points thanks to a 18-2 surge in the third quarter and carried that to the win and a 4-3 record while Braunschweig are now 2-5. Ulm committed only 8 turnovers and held Braunschweig to 44.3 percent from the field including 18.5 percent from long range. Jaron Blossomgame paced Ulm with 22 points and got help as Cris Felicio collected 19 points and 12 rebounds and Karim Jallow picked up 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists against his former team. Robin Amaize scored 15 points for Braunschweig with Martin Peterka adding 14 and David Krämer tallying 12 points.
Crailsheim race past Giessen for third straight win
HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim continued their march up the standings as they cruised past JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers 104-74 on the road for their third straight win. Giessen committed nine turnovers in the first 7 minutes as Crailsheim raced ahead 21-4. The hosts could not get back into the game and Crailsheim finished it off with a 19-0 run to start the second half for a 4-3 record while Giessen dropped to 2-5. Giessen missed their first nine three-pointers and connected on just 20.0 percent, and Crailsheim committed only nine turnovers while shooting 57.6 percent from the field for the game. Jaren Lewis paced Crailsheim with 20 points while Elias Lasisi scored 16 points and T.J. Shorts picked up 13 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Nuni Omot collected 15 points and Phillip Fayne had 14 points in the loss.
Bamberg bounce back, beat Frankfurt
Brose Bamberg bounced back from their home loss to ALBA BERLIN by knocking off FRAPORT SKYLINERS 77-72 on the road. Bamberg never trailed in the game, leading by 15 points midway through the third quarter. Frankfurt managed to get the deficit down to three points with 7 seconds left but Patrick Heckmann iced the game with two free throws with 6 seconds remaining as Bamberg moved to 5-2 and Frankfurt fell to 1-6. Bamberg forced 19 Frankfurt turnovers while holding the hosts to 44.3 percent shooting and hitting 15-of-22 free throws compared to just 7-of-8 for Frankfurt. Omar Prewitt paced five Bamberg players in double figures with 17 points while Heckmann had 15 points and 6 assists, Kenneth Ogbe and Christian Sengfelder both scored 12 points and Justin Robinson had 11 points and 6 assists. Rasheed Moore scored a team-high 21 points for Frankfurt with Germans Lukas Wank and Len Schoormann both adding 11 points in the loss.
Bayreuth win at Heidelberg, snap losing skid
medi bayreuth ended their three-game losing streak as they fended off MLP Academics Heidelberg 89-87 on the road. Heidelberg used an 11-0 run to opened an 11-point lead late in the third quarter only to see Bayreuth counter with a 13-0 surge in the fourth. Cameron Wells hit two big free throws with 18 seconds left to secure the win and a 2-4 record for the guests with Heidelberg falling to 4-3. Bayreuth shot 54.7 percent from the field and stopped Heidelberg's offense to the tune of just 43.1 percent, including 28.0 percent on three-pointers. Heidelberg could not take advantage of 23 offensive rebounds - turning them into 25 second-chance points - while also committing only 9 turnovers. Terry Allen led Bayreuth with 16 points while Martynas Sajus picked up 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks, Wells finished with 15 points and 10 assists and both Andi Seiferth and Kevin Wohlrath pitched in 10 points. Kelvin Martin was Heidelberg’s top scorer with 18 points and Brekkott Chapman had 17 points and 9 rebounds.
Player of the Week
Player of the Week for Round 7 goes to Cris Felicio from ratiopharm ulm for his impressive showing against Basketball Löwen Braunschweig. The former NBA big man collected 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including 1-of-1 three-pointers, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks for an efficiency of 32.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Robin Amaize, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
Amaize struggled from long range - going 0-of-6 on three-pointers - but he still scored 15 points to go with 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals in Braunschweig’s loss to ratiopharm ulm.
G: Karim Jallow, ratiopharm ulm
Jallow stepped up against his former team Basketball Löwen Braunschweig as he collected 19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal.
F: Patrick Heckmann, Brose Bamberg
Heckmann has quietly had a strong season coming back to Bamberg and he picked up 15 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal in the win over FRAPORT SKYLINERS.
F: Jonas Richter, NINERS Chemnitz
Chemnitz got a big victory at MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg and Richter played a big role in that with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
C: Andi Seiferth, medi bayreuth
Bayreuth defeated MLP Academics Heidelberg with the help of the big man Seiferth, who had 10 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block.
Young Guns
Norris Agbakoko, 21, C, EWE Baskets Oldenburg
Agbakoko had a big game against FC Bayern Munich, picking up 6 points on 3-of-3 shots, 4 rebounds and 1 block in 12:22 minutes. The 2.17 meter center played 10 games last season.
Aleksa Kovacevic, 19, PG, HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim
Crailsheim’s blowout win over JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers meant quite a bit of playing time for the 19-year-old Serbian playmaker, who tallied 8 points on 3-of-3 on three-pointers and 2-of-2 free throws, 1 rebound and 1 assist and 1 turnover in 11:46 minutes.
Len Schoormann, 19, PG, FRAPORT SKYLINERS
Schoormann scored in double figures for the third time this season - including 17 points in the MagentaSport BBL Pokal German Cup - as he picked up 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting (2-of-7 threes) and 1-of-1 free throws, 3 rebounds 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 block against Brose Babmerg.
Tischlers Watch
The Tischler twins could not keep Basketball Löwen Braunschweig from losing against ratiopharm ulm. Nicholas Tischler tallied 6 points on 3-of-4 shots and 2 turnovers in 13:55 minutes while his fellow 21-year-old brother Brandon had 2 points on 1-of-1 shooting and 1 rebound in 5:09 minutes of action.
Germans Abroad
Tibor Pleiß has been one of the few bright spots for reigning Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champions Anadolu Efes Istanbul as they have slumped to a 2-6 record in the EuroLeague. Pleiß for his part is playing well, collecting 17 points and 7 rebounds against Zalgiris Kaunas and then adding 13 points and 5 rebounds vs Zenit St Petersburg.
