This week’s bill was limited to five Round 19 games due to Covid-19 postponements but we saw two thrillers and history. Jaron Blossomgame won it late for the hottest team in the league ratiopharm ulm while NINERS Chemnitz prevailed in overtime to remain the kings of the clutch. Not to be overseen was history being made in Bamberg where Kristian Ortelli became the youngest player in league history.
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:
Blossomgame winner keeps Ulm redhot with win over Homesley, Hamburg
ratiopharm ulm remained the hottest team in the league as Jaron Blossomgame’s basket with 10 seconds left secured a 91-90 win over Hamburg Towers 91-90 in a thriller on the road. Ulm wasted a 13-point third quar-ter advantage and Hamburg pulled ahead 88-81 with 2 minutes to play. The guests fought back with a three-pointer and three-point play before Blossomgame’s heroics to give Ulm their ninth win in the last 10 games for a 13-5 record including a league-best 9-1 on the road. Hamburg have dropped two straight and are now 10-8. Hamburg were unable to use their outstanding three-point shooting (17-of-34 - 50.0%) as they committed two turnovers more than Ulm, who also made 13-of-16 free throws compared to 5-of-9 from the line for Hamburg. Semaj Christon had 23 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals to lead Ulm while Sindarius Thornwell picked up 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 block; and Blossomgame finished with 21 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Maik Kotsar scored 24 points to pace Hamburg and Jaylon Brown had 20 points while Caleb Homesley not only played the full 40:00 minutes but scored 16 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 14 assists. That is just one off the best this season - Parker Jackson-Cartwright rolling out 15 assists for Telekom Baskets Bonn against SYNTAINICS MBC.
Chemnitz win in the clutch - again; down Frankfurt in OT - again
NINERS Chemnitz are proving to be a team built for the clutch as they defeated FRAPORT SKYLINERS 87-86 in overtime for the third home win in a row. Both of Chemnitz’s victories over Frankfurt this season have been in overtime and Rodrigo Pastore’s men have a 9-1 record in games decided by five points or fewer. Chemnitz came back from a 14-point deficit in the second quarter and then trailed by 12 points late in third period and by eight points with 3 minutes left. But the hosts went on a 13-5 spurt with Mindaugas Susinskas hitting at three-pointer with 37 seconds left to send the game to overtime. And the tight extra session was decided by Eric Washington’s free throws with 25 seconds to play. With the win, Chemnitz improved to 12-6 while Frankfurt still cannot get going results-wise with a 5-11 mark. Chemnitz shot 64.1 percent on two-pointers and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to make the difference in a tight game. Susinskas paced five Chemnitz players in double figures with 16 points while Frantz Massenat had 15 points and Isiaha Mike, Washington and Darion Atkins all scored 12 points. Jamel McLean and Brancou Badio both had 17 points to lead Frankfurt.
Bamberg finally win at home again in Round 16 makeup over Würzburg
Brose Bamberg finally tasted victory at home again as they knocked off s.Oliver Wüzburg 97-78 in a Round 16 makeup game. Freak City fans finally returned to the arena and helped Bamberg snap a five-game home losing streak while Würzburg lost their ninth straight in their first game since January 2. Würzburg was able to get close after a 14-point deficit in the first quarter but Bamberg took control of the game for good in the second quarter to improve to 8-10 while Würzburg fell to 3-12. Würzburg were held to just 45.1 percent shooting while Bamberg hit 57.6 percent from the field including 14-of-29 on three-pointers (48.3 percent). Bamberg also dished out 29 assists in the game. Christian Sengfelder led the way with 19 points while Martinas Geben scored 18 points and Akil Mitchell had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. Luciano Parodi and Craig Moller both picked up 18 points to lead Würzburg.
Bamberg 15-year-old Ortelli becomes youngest player in league history
The easyCredit BBL has a new youngest player in league history as Kristian Ortelli made his debut for Brose Bamberg at 15 years 9 months and 28 days by playing 40 seconds against s.Oliver Würzburg. That broke the previous record since the start of digital data collection in 1998 which was 16 years and 9 days by Martin Kalu when he played for RASTA Vechta. Bamberg were missing three major German players - Patrick Heckmann, Dominic Lockhart and Kenny Ogbe, which forced the team into adding Ortelli into the roster. The 17-year-old Lucas Passarge also made his league debut in the game.
PJC, Bonn roll over reeling Oldenburg
Telekom Baskets Bonn kept EWE Baskets Oldenburg’s nightmare season going as they cruised to an 89-65 road victory to extend Oldenburg’s losing streak to eight games. Last-placed Oldenburg were able to come back from a 13-point second quarter deficit but Bonn took the third quarter 25-14 to take control and improve to 14-5 while Oldenburg fell to 2-14. Bonn shot 53.3 percent for the game and held the hosts to just 42.6 percent including 21.1 percent from long range. Parker Jackson-Cartwright was Bonn’s leader with 25 points and 8 assists with Justin Gorham picking up 16 points and 14 rebounds and Javontae Hawkins adding 16 points. Max Heideger and Cameron Clark both scored 11 points to pace Oldenburg.
Berlin end losing streak and keep Würzburg skid going
ALBA BERLIN claimed their first victory since January 2 as they fended off s.Oliver Würzburg 82-70 on the road. Würzburg led for much of the game until Berlin took the fourth quarter 32-15 including a 12-2 run late to move to 11-5 after snapping a five-game losing streak in all competitions - including four EuroLeague losses in the span of 11 days. Nothing is working for Würzburg, who dropped their 10th in a row for a 3-13 record. Würzburg hit just 43.1 percent from the field and also lost the rebounding battle 44-32 including 16 Berlin offensive rebounds. Yovel Zoosman paced Berlin with 14 points and Louis Olinde scored 11 points in the win. Craig Moller led all scorers with 17 points for Würzburg to go with 10 rebounds and Cameron Hunt added 15 points in the loss.
Bayern never challenged at home over Bayreuth without Trinchieri
FC Bayern Munich were never really challenged as they rolled to an 83-60 home victory over medi bayreuth in a game without head coach Andrea Trinchieri. Bayern saw their 16-point second quarter lead melt to six points early in the second half but the league leaders pulled away for their third straight win and a 14-4 record and Bayreuth fell to 8-10. Bayern held Bayreuth to just 38.0 percent shooting including 30.0 percent from long range and also dominated the glass 37-25 including 14 offensive rebounds. Deshaun Thomas tallied 21 points while Ognjen Jaramaz picked up 13 points and 7 rebounds for Bayern, who were coached by Slaven Rimac as Trinchieri was given the night off. Bayreuth’s head coach Raoul Korner also missed the game due to illness. Sacar Anim tallied 14 points to lead Bayreuth and Marcus Thornton had 10 points.
Göttingen add Norwegian guard Frey from Spanish second division
BG Göttingen added reinforcements for their backcourt as they signed Norwegian guard Harald Frey for the rest of the season. The 24-year-old Frey, whose deal also includes an option for 2022-23, arrives in Göttingen from Spanish second division side Oviedo, where he had been averaging 16.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.1 steals.
Player of the Week
Despite not all teams playing in Round 19, the Player of the Week honors goes to Justin Gorham of Telekom Baskets Bonn for his showing against EWE Baskets Oldenburg. He scored 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting and 8-of-9 free throws to go with 14 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal for an efficiency of 27.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Len Schoormann, FRAPORT SKYLINERS
Schoormann collected 10 points with 2 three-pointers to go with 2 assists in Frankfurt’s loss to NINERS Chemnitz.
G: Karsten Tadda, Telekom Baskets Bonn
Tadda had a big game against his former team EWE Baskets Oldenburg, pi-cking up 9 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals
F: Robin Christen, Hamburg Towers
Christen played a big role in Hamburg really giving ratiopharm ulm a fight with 17 points including 5 three-pointers and 2 rebounds.
F: Louis Olinde, ALBA BERLIN
Olinde picked up 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in Berlin’s win over s.Oliver Würzburg.
C: Christian Sengfelder, Brose Bamberg
Sengfelder is back on the team again as the Bamberg big man tallied 19 points and 7 rebounds against s.Oliver Würzburg.
Young Guns
Jason George, 20, SG, FC Bayern Munich
With so many games being played, Bayern are relying heavily on the young legs of George, who played 26:35 minutes against medi bayreuth and scored 5 points on 2-of-4 shooting (0/2 threes) and 1-of-2 free throws while picking up 8 rebounds and 1 assist.
Julius Böhmer, 20, PG, s.Oliver Wüzburg
Böhmer got some good playing time this week as the 20-year-old playmaker scored 5 points on 2-of-7 shooting (1/3 threes) and 0-of-2 free throws to go with 1 assist and 2 steals in 19:19 minutes against Brose Bamberg. He then had 8 points on 3-of-9 shooting (2/3 threes) in 13:58 minutes versus ALBA BERLIN.
Michael Rataj, 18, SF, ratiopharm ulm
Rataj scored the first basket in his career as he played a career-high 5:24 minutes and grabbed his first rebound against Hamburg Towers. The 18-year-old had previously played one game in the easyCredit BBL, playing 1:48 minutes against Basketball Löwen Braunschweig on November 6, 2021 and scoring 2 points on two free throws.
Germans Abroad
Niels Giffey has gone through an up and down first season at Zalgiris Kaunas. The former ALBA BERLIN wing this week scored 11 points with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals against Neptunas in the Lithuanian first division for his first game in double figures since tallying 12 points versus Real Madrid in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague on November 12.
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