The big news this week came in the German capital as BG Göttingen watched Kamar Baldwin take over and guide the team to an upset of reigning easyCredit BBL champs ALBA BERLIN. The other big headline was the final undefeated team going down as Basketball Löwen Braunschweig handed Brose Bamberg their first loss. A week after suffering their first defeat of the season to Bamberg, MLP Academics Heidelberg continued their fairytale run with a home win over s.Oliver Würzburg.
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:
Baldwin carries Göttingen to surprise win in Berlin
BG Göttingen pulled off a surprise in the German capital as they won a slugfest 65-59 at ALBA BERLIN. Neither team could break away with the biggest lead being eight points with 8 lead changes and 13 ties. One run was enough to take control as Göttingen guard Kamar Baldwin went on a personal 12-1 surge in the fourth quarter to build a 57-49 lead and held on as Baldwin added four more points in the closing minute for Göttingen’s third straight win and a 3-1 record while Berlin fell to 2-3. The game was not exactly one for lovers of beautiful basketball. Berlin shot just 29.4 percent for the game including 10.3 percent from three-point range while making just 16-of-30 free throws (53.3 percent). Berlin forced 22 Göttingen turnovers and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds for a 15-4 second chance points advantage but still could not get the win. Baldwin ended with 18 points while Stephen Brown had 14 points and Zack Bryant scored 10 points. Oscar da Silva was the only Berlin player in double figures with 17 points to go with 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks.
Braunschweig hand Bamberg first loss, snap three-game losing skid
Basketball Löwen Braunschweig handed Brose Bamberg their first loss of the season as they grabbed their second home win with a 90-84 victory. Braunschweig took over the game in the third quarter and built the lead to 22 points early in the final frame. Bamberg tried to come back but didn’t have enough in falling to 4-1 while Braunschweig moved to 2-3 in snapping a three-game losing streak. Braunschweig shot 54.6 percent from the field including 50.0 percent from three-point range while Bamberg were held to 35.7 percent from deep. And the guests were unable to make use of 15 offensive rebounds, which turned into a 16-7 advantage in second chance points. Martin Peterka led Braunschweig with 20 points including 5 three-pointers while Robin Amaize had 19 points and was 5-of-5 from long range. Tookie Brown chipped in 14 points and 8 assists and Luc van Slooten tallied 13 points, 2 assists and 3 steals. Christian Sengfelder had a monster game with 24 points and 10 rebounds for Bamberg while Justin Robinson collected 14 points and 9 assists and Martinas Geben had 14 points and 8 rebounds in the loss.
Bamberg bring in guard Shannon Scott as Ferrari replacement
Brose Bamberg added reinforcements to their backcourt with the signing of Shannon Scott until the end of the season. The 28-year-old American point guard is the replacement for Frankie Ferrari, who retired from the game earlier this season.
Heidelberg get back to fairytale start with home win over Würzburg
MLP Academics Heidelberg resumed their fairytale start to the season with a 76-71 home victory over s.Oliver Würzburg. The guests jumped ahead by 10 points in the first quarter but were down by nine points late in the first half. Heidelberg wrestled control of the game with a 8-0 run in the fourth quarter before Jordan Geist hit a big three-pointer for a nine-point lead with 65 seconds left. A week after losing their first game of the season at Brose Bamberg, Heidelberg improved to 4-1 while Würzburg fell to 1-3. Neither team could really shoot the ball well but Heidelberg committed only 10 turnovers and turned 16 offensive rebounds into 20 second chance points compared to just nine for Würzburg. Brekkott Chapman paced Heidelberg with 18 points and 7 rebounds while Robert Lowery and Shyron Ely both scored 13 points and Kelvin Martin picked up 10 points and 9 rebounds. Würzburg’s newly-acquired Tomasz Gielo drained 6-of-7 three-pointers for a team-high 19 points with Kerron Johnson scoring 11 points and Desi Rodriguez and Aigars Skele both tallying 10 points.
Würzburg add Polish international forward Gielo, Kerron Johnson
s.Oliver Würzburg reacted to injuries to two leading players and made two signing as they added Polish international forward Tomasz Gielo and Kerron Johnson. Gielo signed with Würzburg until the end of the season after center Nicolas Carvacho was ruled out the rest of 2021-22 with a torn knee ligament. Johnson meanwhile was brought in as a replacement until the end of December for point guard Luciano Parodi, who will miss six to eight weeks with arthroscopic knee surgery.
5,000 fans not enough as Hamburg win at Oldenburg
Hamburg Towers extended their winning streak to three games as they fought off EWE Baskets Oldenburg 79-77 thanks to Jaylon Brown (26 points) and Caleb Homesley (23) combining for 49 points on the road. Being pushed by a sold-out crowd of 5,000 fans, Oldenburg led for most of the first three quarters, including a 10-point margin late in the third quarter. Hamburg answered with 12-0 run spanning the final two quarters and followed it up with a 10-2 spurt to go up by six points. Homesley and Brown both knocked down free throws in the final 14 seconds to secure Hamburg’s win and a 3-2 mark while Oldenburg have dropped three in a row and are 17th in the league at 1-4. Hamburg hammered Oldenburg on the glass 38-27, including 12 offensive rebounds, and also made 20-of-24 free throws compared to 10-of-13 for Oldenburg. Besides Brown and Homesley, Seth Hinrichs scored 12 points with 8 rebounds and Justus Hollatz chipped in 7 points and 6 assists. Cameron Clark paced Oldenburg with 16 points and Rickey Paulding and Phil Pressey both added 15 points.
Giessen snap losing streak with offensive show against MBC
JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers put on an offensive show as they rolled to a 100-81 home victory over SYNTAINICS MBC to snap a three-game losing streak. A week after Giessen lost in overtime at FC Bayern Munich by the final score of 71-64, Pete Strobl's men were hitting on all cylinders offensively right away, taking a 29-17 lead after 10 minutes. Giessen didn’t stop and led 57-41 at the break - one point more than Giessen had scored in regulation against Bayern. With the win, Giessen moved to 2-3 while MBC had their three-game winning streak end and are now 3-2. Giessen shot a blistering 76.1 percent on 2-pointers and 63.1 percent for the game while MBC were held to 46.9 percent from the floor, including 28.6 percent on three-pointers. Kendale McCullum did it all for Giessen with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals while Philip Fayne had 15 points, John Bryant 11 and Kyan Anderson and Brayon Blake both scored 10 points. Jamel Morris was MBC’s leading scorer with 20 points with Goran Huskic chipping in 12 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.
Ulm get revenge for cup loss, win at Chemnitz
ratiopharm ulm exacted revenge for their exit in the MagentaSport BBL Pokal German Cup by defeating NINERS Chemnitz 81-78 on the road. The game was tight throughout with eight points being the biggest lead and the lead changing hands 13 times. Chemnitz failed to score in the final 2 minutes with two missed free throws, two turnovers and two missed three-pointers. Ulm won their second straight to move to 3-2 which is also Chemnitz’s record. Ulm had slight edge on the boards 36-28 but really won the game thanks to getting to the line more, hitting 17-of-23 free throws to 9-of-17 for Chemnitz. Semaj Christon led the way with 21 points - 16 of them in the second half, 3 rebounds and 5 assists while Philipp Herkenhoff had 14 points and 7 rebounds. Isiaha Mike paced Chemnitz with 16 points with Darion Atkins, Gerald Robinson and Jonas Richter all scoring 10 points. In addition, Frantz Massenat finished with 3 points and 7 assists for a total of 700 assists in his BBL career.
Crailsheim beat Bayreuth for first road win
HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim locked up their first road victory of the season with some tough defense in an 86-74 win at medi bayreuth. Crailsheim took control of the game with a 17-0 run in the second quarter and never looked back in moving to 2-3 while Bayreuth dropped to 1-3. Bayreuth hit just 16.7 percent on three-pointers while Crailsheim made 43.5 percent from long range. TJ Shorts was unstoppable for Crailsheim with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists while Terrell Harris picked up 18 points. Bayreuth’s Baltic duo of Martynas Sajus of Lithuania and Janari Joesaar of Estonia both scored 13 points while combining for 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks.
Ludwigsburg hold on at home to beat Bonn
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg remained undefeated at home with a hard-fought 91-86 victory over Telekom Baskets Bonn. After a tight first half, Ludwigsburg did manage to build a 14-point lead in the third quarter but promptly were trailing early in the fourth. Ludwigsburg regained control and led by six points with a minute left before Skyler Bowlin drained a three-pointer to make it 85-84 with 60 seconds left. Justin Simon held his nerves and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 27 seconds to give Ludwigsburg a 3-2 record, the same mark as Bonn. Ludwigsburg’s defense forced 19 turnovers - 7 more than Bonn’s season average coming into the game - and held Bonn to 32.3 percent on three-pointers. Ludwigsburg also made 18-of-21 free throws to 8-of-14 for Bonn. Jonah Radebaugh drained 6 three-pointers in scoring 24 points while Simon added 21 points, Rawle Alkins had 14 points and Jordan Hulls picked up 11 points and 9 assists. Parker Jackson-Cartwright was up to the challenge with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists for Bonn, who also had Justin Gorham score 14 points, Jeremy Morgan 13 and Saulius Kulvietis add 12 points in the defeat.
Bayern beat down Tez-less Frankfurt on road
Don’t look now but FC Bayern Munich are right up around the leaders in the league after picking up their third straight win with a 78-50 beatdown of FRAPORT SKYLINERS on the road. Frankfurt held close for about 15 minutes when Bayern used an 18-0 to lead 50-30 at the half and were never challenged the rest of the way to move to 3-1 while Frankfurt are the league’s only winless team at 0-5. Bayern forced 20 Frankfurt turnovers and held the hosts to just 34.0 percent shooting while hitting 49.1 percent from the field themselves, including a blistering hot 57.9 percent from long range. All 11 Bayern players scored, paced by Andi Obst and Darrun Hillard with 13 points each while Gavin Schilling collected a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Frankfurt were without injured leader Quantez Robertson with Brancou Badio trying to make up the slack with 20 points but no other player scored in double figures. Len Schoormann did have 9 points while Lorenz Brenneke picked up 4 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
Player of the Week
The Player of the Week honors this week go to TJ Shorts of HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim for his outstanding showing against medi bayreuth as he scored 24 points on 7-of-12 shots and 8-of-8 free throws plus 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal for an efficiency of 28.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Maurice Stuckey, HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim
Stuckey had an outstanding all-around game in Crailsheim’s win over medi bayreuth, collecting 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.
G: Andi Obst, FC Bayern Munich
Having to pick just one player from Bayern, it was hard to not select Gavin Schilling with his 11 points and 10 rebounds against FRAPORT SKYLINERS, but the Top Five spot goes to Obst, who had 13 points with 3 three-pointers, 1 rebound, 5 assists and 1 steal.
F: Robin Amaize, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
Amaize shot the lights out in Braunschweig’s win over Brose Bamberg with 19 points on 5-of-5 three-point shooting while also picking up 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
F: Oscar da Silva, ALBA BERLIN
Da Silva continues to be outstanding for Berlin even though his 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks were not enough in Berlin’s loss to BG Göttingen.
C: Christian Sengfelder, Brose Bamberg
It was also hard to pick just one player from Bamberg as Kenneth Ogbe had 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, but the Top Five pick is Sengfelder, who collected a big-time double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds in the loss against Basketball Löwen Braunschweig.
Young Guns
Justus Hollatz, 20, PG, Hamburg Towers
Hollatz continues to excel in a leadership role for Hamburg and he picked up 7 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in 25:31 minutes in a win over EWE Baskets Oldenburg.
Luc van Slooten, 19, SF, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
Van Slooten played a big role in Braunschweig’s win over Brose Bamberg with 13 points on 4-of-10 shots (3-of-8 three-pointers), 1 rebound, 2 assists and 3 steals in 26:38 minutes.
Alexander Richardson, 18, C, FRAPORT SKYLINERS
There were other players who could have been considered for this spot but let’s give some recognition to Richardson. The 18-year-old big man scored 9 points with 2 rebounds against ALBA BERLIN in Round 1 but he tallied 4 points on 2-of-4 shots with 6 rebounds - 4 off the offensive glass, 1 block and 2 turnovers in 20:25 minutes in the loss to FC Bayern Munich.
Tischlers Watch
Basketball Löwen Braunschweig picked up a big win over Brose Bamberg and the game had special meaning for the Tischler twins, who came up in the Bamberg system before moving to Braunschweig this off-season. Brandon Tischler collected 3 points on 1-of-4 shooting (1-of-2 three-pointers), 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in 12:40 minutes in the win. Nicholas Tischler scored 2 points on 1-of-1 shooting with 3 rebounds and 1 steal in 3:52 minutes.
Germans Abroad
Bazoumana Kone continues to have a strong start to his season in Belgium as he is averaging 16.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.2 steals through six games for Liege while hitting 50.0 percent on three-pointers. The 27-year-old’s biggest showing thus far came against Brussels on October 17 when he drained 4 three-pointers in scoring 34 points to go with 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. Kone played last season with Basketball Löwen Braunschweig.
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