The Weekly News are back after a short hiatus and the easyCredit BBL gave us all plenty of great post-Christmas presents. Isaac Bonga is starting to really raise his game in leading FC Bayern Munich to a tough win over MLP Academics Heidelberg while TJ Shorts continues to make his case for MVP with a remarkable showing in Telekom Baskets Bonn’s victory over NINERS Chemnitz. In addition, the FRAPORT SKYLINERS German duo of Joshua Obiesie and Lukas Wank both set career highs.
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:
Bonga, Bayern hold off Heidelberg in thriller
FC Bayern Munich prevailed in a back-and-forth with MLP Academics Heidelberg, winning a thriller 87-83 on the road. Bayern were never able to take control of the game with 26 lead changes and 13 ties before Bayern took their biggest lead of nine points with under 3 minutes left. In front of more than 10,000 fans, Heidelberg got within two points with 8.5 seconds left but Corey Walden iced the game with two free throws with 7.1 seconds to play. Bayern jumped to 10-2 with their second win since losing at Telekom Baskets Bonn and Heidelberg are now 4-7. Bayern, who had assistant coach Demond Greene on the sidelines in place of sickened head coach Andrea Trinchieri, won the battle of the glass 45-35 including 20 offensive rebounds to lead to a 31-17 advantage in second chance points. Isaac Bonga scored a career-high 21 points to go with 7 rebounds and 5 assists with Walden scoring 17 points and Augustine Rubit tallying 15 points and 10 rebounds. Tim Coleman paced Heidelberg with 21 points and Eric Washington flirted with a triple-double with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
Shorts sensational in Bonn win over Chemnitz
TJ Shorts produced an MVP worthy performance with 38 points to carry Telekom Baskets Bonn past NINERS Chemnitz 80-73 to remain perfect at home this season at 5-0. Bonn wasted an 11-point second quarter lead as the guests temporarily went ahead late in the third quarter. But Bonn pulled away with a 10-0 spurt in the final frame for their fourth straight win and a 10-1 record while Chemnitz fell to 6-4 after snapping a three-game winning streak. Bonn dominated the glass 40-25 including 19 offensive rebounds, which helped make up for shooting just 44.1 percent from the field and 32.3 percent from long range. In addition to his scoring, Shorts also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Sebastian Herrera picked up 11 points and Finn Delaney had 10 points. Marko Filipovity paced Chemnitz with 17 points and Arnas Velicka had 10 points and 8 assists.
Another close game: Oldenburg win thriller at Hamburg
EWE Baskets Oldenburg played another tight game and managed to hold off Veolia Hamburg Towers 96-95 on the road. Oldenburg built an 11-point lead in the second quarter but Hamburg went ahead in the third quarter. James Woodard hit from deep with 6.7 seconds left to knot the game for Hamburg but DeWayne Russell made a free throw with 4.5 seconds to play and Rihards Lomazs stole Seth Hinrichs’ pass to secure the win. It was the fourth game in the last five for Oldenburg to be decided by four points or fewer and Oldenburg moved to 8-4. Hamburg have lost six straight for a 4-7 mark. Hamburg, who had assistant coach Benka Barloschky replacing the ill Raoul Korner, shot 62.5 percent for the game but Oldenburg made 26-of-31 free throws compared to 13-of-16 for the hosts. Oldenburg also committed six fewer turnovers and swiped 15 steals. Trey Drechsel led the way with 27 points and 6 rebounds and Russell and Lomazs both scored 17 points in the win. Kendale McCullum paced Hamburg with 25 points and 7 assists and Woodard added 20 points in the loss.
Ludwigsburg bounce back, beat Ulm at home
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg bounced back from their loss at FRAPORT SKYLINERS by holding off ratiopharm ulm 87-84 at home. The game went back and forth throughout and neither team opened a double-digit lead. The hosts were up by nine points with under 4 minutes but watched Ulm pull within one point with 47 seconds to play. Ulm missed a chance to go ahead with two turnovers in the final 7 seconds as Ludwigsburg moved to 8-3 and Ulm dropped to 4-7. Ludwigsburg created extra opportunities with 17 offensive rebounds and prevailed thanks to hitting 40.0 percent from long range. Isaiah Whitehead tallied 21 points and 6 assists and Yorman Polas Bartolo added 14 points and 4 rebounds in the win. Robin Christen was Ulm’s top scorer with 13 points.
Career highs for Obiesie, Wank help Frankfurt past Rostock
FRAPORT SKYLINERS have won back-to-back-games for the first time this season as they pulled away from ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES 101-83 at home. The game was tight for three quarters until the hosts dominated the fourth quarter 30-18 to move their record to 3-8 and Rostock fell to 6-6 after having won two in a row. Frankfurt connected on 53.2 percent from the field including 50.0 percent from long range. Rostock shot just 37.0 percent for the game including 25.7 percent on threes. Laurynas Beliauskas was unstoppable for Frankfurt with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists while Joshua Obiesie collected a career high 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists and Lukas Wank added a career best 20 points and 7 rebounds. Tyler Nelson scored 21 points for Rostock and Selom Mawugbe had 17 points and 8 rebounds in the loss.
Frey shoots Göttingen past reeling Braunschweig
BG Göttingen picked up their third straight victory as they beat Basketball Löwen Braunschweig 78-64, keeping Braunschweig winless at home in six games. Göttingen led by 11 points after 10 minutes and the hosts could never really threaten the rest of the way. Göttingen improved to 7-4 while a fifth straight loss meant Braunschweig fell to 2-9. Göttingen committed only 9 turnovers and held Braunschweig to just 21.7 percent from long range. Harald Frey led the way with 26 points and Mark Smith chipped in 13 points and 6 rebounds. Benedikt Turudic scored 18 points and Brandon Tischler had 14 points in the loss. Braunschweig were already missing David Krämer with a knee injury and Luc van Slooten got injured during the game.
Braunschweig reinforce guard spot with Myles
Basketball Löwen Braunschweig reacted to their struggles in the league by adding 26-year-old guard Divine Myles until the end of the season. The American with a Kosovo passport gives Braunschweig a point guard who can also score. Myles started the season with Russian club Nizhny Novgorod but played only one game as he broke his nose.
Würzburg win again, down Crailsheim at home
Würzburg Baskets extended their winning streak to three games as they fended off HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim 87-78 at home. Würzburg used a big second quarter and eventually opened a 16-point lead before Crailsheim fought back to within one in the fourth quarter. But a 9-0 surge carried Würzburg to the win, their fourth in five games for a 6-5 record while Crailsheim have fallen to 3-9 after four consecutive losses - the last three under new head coach Nikola Markovic. Würzburg committed only 9 turnovers and shot 47.8 percent from long range while holding the guests to just 38.5 percent from the field. Cameron Hunt paced Würzburg with 23 points and 9 assists while Stanley Whittaker had 20 points and 7 assists, CJ Bryce scored 18 points and Filip Stanic added 11 points and 6 rebounds. Asbjorn Midtgaard was Crailsheim’s top scorer with 19 points and 9 rebounds.
Bayreuth snap losing skid, first home win over Bamberg since 2018
medi bayreuth snapped a seven-game losing streak by knocking off Brose Bamberg 92-86 - their first home win over their Franconian rivals since January 2, 2018. Bamberg led for much of the second and third quarters until an 18-5 run spanning the final two frames led the way to the win. Bayreuth moved to 3-9 - 3-2 at home - while Bamberg have lost three straight in the league for a 3-8 mark. Bayreuth shot 55.0 percent for the game including a blistering 64.7 percent on two-pointers. Brandon Childress poured in a game-high 24 points to go with 6 assists for the winners and Jackson Rowe had 17 points and Kalif Young added 15 points. Solomon Young paced Bamberg with 17 points and Patrick Miller tallied 15 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals in a losing effort.
Berlin remain perfect at home with easy win over SYNTAINICS MBC
ALBA BERLIN remained perfect at home this season as they breezed to an 86-60 win over SYNTAINICS MBC for their fourth straight victory. Berlin pushed a tight first half game to 37-29 at the break and then blew it open after halftime for a 10-1 record and SYNTAINICS MBC fell to 4-7 in snapping a 2-game winning streak. Berlin dished out 26 assists as they shot 73.3 percent on two-pointers while keeping the guests to just 32.4 percent from the field. No Berlin player played more than 21 minutes with Yanni Wetzell scoring 14 points and Johannes Thiemann adding 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Kris Clyburn was the only SYNTAINICS MBC player in double figures with 13 points.
Player of the Week
TJ Shorts takes home the Player of the Week for Round 11 as he was unstoppable for Telekom Baskets Bonn against NINERS Chemnitz. The MVP candidate had an efficiency of 44 with 38 points on 15-of-20 shooting including 6-of-7 threes and 2-of-3 free throws to go with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Isaac Bonga, FC Bayern Munich
Bonga continues to play at a high level and he collected a career-high 21 points versus MLP Academics Heidelberg as well as 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal.
G: Joshua Obiesie, FRAPORT SKYLINERS
It’s hard to not include Lukas Wank (career-high 20 points plus 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal), but Obiesie gets the nod in Frankfurt’s win over ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES with a career-high 23 points to go with 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks.
F: Brandon Tischler, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
Tischler had an outstanding all-around game in the team’s loss to BG Göttingen with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
C: Jonathan Bähre, MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg
Bähre scored a career-high 12 points against ratiopharm ulm and also picked up 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
C: Filip Stanic, Würzburg Baskets
Stanic tallied 11 points and 6 rebounds in the win over HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim including two baskets in the team’s big fourth quarter run.
Young Guns
Kay Bruhnke, 21, PF, medi bayreuth
Bruhnke had a productive 9:16 minutes against his former team Brose Bamberg as he scored 8 points on 3-of-5 shooting (2/4 threes) and added 1 rebound and 1 assist.
Radii Caisin, 21, SG, SYNTAINICS MBC
Caisin started against ALBA BERLIN and played 20:29 minutes, picking up 6 points on 2-of-3 threes, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal.
Len Schoormann, 20, PG, Veolia Hamburg Towers
Schoormann played 15:58 minutes against EWE Baskets Oldenburg and scored 4 points on 2-of-4 shooting (0/2 threes) and grabbed 1 rebound.
Germans Abroad
The greatest German basketball player in the NBA - Dirk Nowitzki - now has a statue in his honor as the Dallas Mavericks honored the legend on Christmas Day with his likeness taking a one-legged fall away jumper. Congrats Dirk!
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Nachberichte
Große Kulisse, starke Nerven: 21 Punkte von Bonga sichern München den Sieg in Heidelberg
Nachberichte
