NINERS Chemnitz seem to have FC Bayern Munich’s number as they picked up a second upset this season thanks to Trent Lockett coming up in the clutch. Caleb Homesley meanwhile was unstoppable for Hamburg Towers as they knocked off league leaders Telekom Baskets Bonn. The week also saw two more teams enter quarantine as ALBA BERLIN and s.Oliver Würzburg both saw major Covid-19 outbreaks in their teams.
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:
Lockett threes help Chemnitz shock Bayern again in road comeback
NINERS Chemnitz pulled off another upset over FC Bayern Munich as they came back late in picking up a 65-63 road victory. Bayern, who were sho-ckingly ousted by Chemnitz in the MagentaSport BBL Pokal German Cup earlier this season, built an 11-point halftime lead and led by 10 points early in the fourth quarter. Bayern were still leading by six points with 3:28 minutes left but they failed to score the rest of the game and Trent Lockett buried two three-pointers in the final 80 seconds, including the winner with 25 seconds. Corey Walden missed a potential game-winning three with 7 seconds as Chemnitz won their second straight game for a 10-5 record and Bayern fell to 11-4. Chemnitz made up for 20 turnovers by stopping Bayern’s offense, allo-wing the hosts to shoot just 36.5 percent for the game including just 18.8 per-cent on three-pointers. Lockett ended with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 5 as-sists and Eric Washington tallied 11 points in the win. Bayern were paced by Deshaun Thomas with 19 points while K.C. Rivers scored 13 points and Nick Weiler-Babb added 4 points, 10 rebounds and 6 steals.
Hamburg hand Bonn first home loss of the season
Hamburg Towers handed Telekom Baskets Bonn their first home loss of the season with a 92-80 road victory thanks to an outstanding Caleb Homesley. Hamburg began to pull away in the second quarter and built a 21-point lead midway through the third quarter in moving to 9-6. Bonn have now lost two straight but still lead the league at 12-4 - with an 8-1 home record. Hamburg committed only 7 turnovers and forced 18 Bonn miscues while turning a 20-10 offensive rebound advantage into 29 second chance points compared to 10 for Bonn. Homesley torched Bonn for 33 points and 5 assists while Zach Brown paced four other Hamburg players in double figures with 14 points and Seth Hinrichs added 10 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Jeremy Morgan was Bonn’s leading scorer with 18 points while MIchael Kessens had 17 points and Skyler Bowlin added 3 points and 12 assists.
Bamberg down Hamburg on road in Round 12 make-up
Brose Bamberg are slowly changing the course of their season as they kno-cked off Hamburg Towers 87-75 on the road in a Round 12 make-up game for their second win in three games. Hamburg jumped ahead by 10 points in the first quarter but trailed by 10 points at halftime. And Bamberg did not let the hosts back into the game the rest of the way in moving to 7-9 while Ham-burg fell to 8-6. Bamberg shot 50.8 percent from the field including 63.9 per-cent on two-pointers while holding Hamburg to just 40.9 percent for the game. Omar Prewitt led Bamberg with 19 points while Akil Mitchell scored 16 points and Patrick Heckmann chipped in 11 points. Hamburg’s Caleb Homesley led all scorers with 27 points and had 7 assists and Seth Hinrichs added 15 points in the loss.
Heidelberg snap losing streak, cool down Crailsheim
MLP Academics Heidelberg finally returned to the winning column as they snapped a nine-game losing streak by beating HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim 100-91 at home to slow down the guests. Heidelberg never trailed in the game and used a 41-25 second quarter to lead by 18 points at the break. Crailsheim fought back to within four points in the third quarter but Heidelberg held on to end their skid and improve to 5-10 and Crailsheim saw their four-game winning streak end in falling to 10-6. Heidelberg shot a blistering hot 60.7 percent for the game including 52.2 percent from long range while li-miting Crailsheim to 36.4 percent on three-pointers. Brekkott Chapman and Robert Lowery both scored 22 points to lead Heidelberg with Kelvin Martin chipping in 14 points, Leon Friederici hitting for 12 and Jordan Geist adding 11 points. T.J. Shorts was Crailsheim’s top scorer with 20 points and 11 as-sists and Bogdan Radosavljevic picked up 17 points in the loss.
Baldwin leads Göttingen to bounce-back win over Giessen
Kamar Baldwin was unstoppable with 31 points in helping BG Göttingen bounce back from their make-up game loss by fending off JobStairs GIES-SEN 46ers 87-76 on the road. Göttingen struggled to put away Giessen be-fore finally doing so with a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to open an 11-point gap and improve to 10-5. Giessen’s losing streak stretched to eight games for a 3-13 record. Göttingen nailed 52.2 percent on three-pointers and held Gies-sen to just 36.4 percent shooting including 25.0 percent from long range. Be-sides Baldwin, Jake Toolson had 18 points and Stephen Brown added 14 points and 5 assists. Kendale McCullum paced Giessen with 26 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists and Florian Koch scored 17 points in the loss.
Bayreuth win back-and-forth battle with Göttingen in Round 2 make-up
medi bayreuth continued to rise up the standings as they beat BG Göttingen 75-72 at home in a hard-fought Round 2 make-up game. The contest was tight throughout with six points being the biggest advantage and the lead changing hands 19 times with 10 ties. Göttingen led by four points with under 4 minutes left when Kay Bruhnke scored four points and Terry Allen hit a big three-pointer as Bayreuth went on a 13-3 run to secure a 7-7 record and Göt-tingen fell to 9-5. Bayreuth held Göttingen to just 42.4 percent shooting while hitting 50.0 percent of their own shots. Allen finished with 19 points while Marcus Thornton had 16 points and 6 assists and Sacar Anim added 14 points and 6 rebounds. Kamar Baldwin paced Göttingen with 25 points and 5 assists.
Ludwigsburg remain powerhouse at home, roll past Bayreuth
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg remained a powerhouse at home as they rolled past medi bayreuth 87-67 to improve to 7-1 at the MHP Arena. Ludwigsburg took control of the game with a 26-11 third quarter and never let Bayreuth challenge again in moving to 10-6 while Bayreuth dropped to 7-8. Ludwigs-burg controlled the boards 45-28 including 16 offensive rebounds while hol-ding Bayreuth to just 39.6 percent from the field. Jonah Radebaugh once again was excellent with 19 points and 7 assists while Tremmell Darden also scored 19 points, Jordan Hulls had 16 points and Justin Simon added 8 points and 14 rebounds. Terry Allen scored 15 points to pace Bayreuth, who were still without the German duo of Bastian Doreth and Andreas Seiferth.
Ludwigsburg add versatile big man Ethan Happ
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg strengthened their low post as they signed versa-tile big man Ethan Happ until the end of the season. The 25-year-old - who can also be considered a point center because of his playmaking abilities - joins Ludwigsburg after playing earlier this season with Italian clubs Fortitudo Bologna and Dinamo Sassari - playing in the Basketball Champions League for both teams.
Ulm remain hot - and dominant on road - with blowout win over MBC
ratiopharm ulm remained one of the hottest teams in the league as they rolled past SYNTAINICS MBC 89-75 to improve to 8-1 on the road with six wins in their last seven games. Ulm raced ahead by 18 points in the first quarter but never let MBC closer than seven points the rest of the way in moving to 10-5 while MBC have lost four straight for a 4-11 record. MBC committed only 9 turnovers but shot just 39.5 percent for the game including 25.0 percent from long range. Jaron Blossomgame paced five Ulm players in double figures with 22 points while Cristiano Felicio had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Phi-lipp Herkenhoff and Karim Jallow both scored 11 points. Kostja Mushidi was MBC’s leading scorer with 16 points and 5 assists.
MBC add reinforcements for relegation fight with Reggie Upshaw
SYNTAINICS MBC added reinforcements for their fight to avoid relegation as they signed Reggie Upshaw until the end of the season. The 26-year-old played earlier this season with Budivelnyk Kiev of Ukraine. He knows the German league from playing with Tigers Tübingen in his professional rookie season in 2017-18. In the mean time he has played in Spain, Italy and Israel.
Berlin, Würzburg join Oldenburg in Covid quarantine
The league saw two more teams get hit by Covid-19 outbreaks as both s.Oli-ver Würzburg and ALBA BERLIN announced high infection numbers - 13 po-sitive cases for Würzburg and 11 for Berlin. Both teams entered quarantine according to safety protocols where they joined EWE Baskets Oldenburg, who have not played a game since December 18.
Player of the Week
Despite just six games of Round 16 being played, the Player of the Week ho-nor goes to Kamar Baldwin for his outstanding showing for BG Göttingen against JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers. He poured in 31 points on 11-of-18 shots and 6-of-6 free throws to go with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block for an efficiency of 32.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Leon Friederici, MLP Academics Heidelberg
Friederici gains a spot on the Top Five for his career night against HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim. The 26-year-old made all four of his shots - including all three three-pointers - and his one free throw for a career high 12 points to go with 1 assist.
G: Kostja Mushidi, SYNTAINICS MBC
Mushidi had a solid game against ratiopharm ulm as he collected 16 points with 4 three-pointers, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block.
F: Karim Jallow, ratiopharm ulm
Jallow had a mini breakout game against SYNTAINICS MBC as he scored 11 points with 6 rebounds and 2 assists. It was the first time he hit double figure scoring since December 3 when he had 11 points against JobStairs GIES-SEN 46ers. And he grabbed 6 rebounds for the first time since November 21 against ALBA BERLIN.
F: Felix Koch, JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers
Koch had a strong game against BG Göttingen but his 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal were not enough for the win.
C: Michael Kessens, Telekom Baskets Bonn
Kessens returns to the Top Five with a great showing off the bench against Hamburg Towers as he made all seven of his field goal attempts and three free throws for 17 points to go with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
Young Guns
Kay Bruhnke, 20, SG, medi bayreuth
Bruhnke played a major role in bayreuth’s Round 2 win over BG Göttigen with 9 points on 4-of-5 shots with 1 rebound and 1 assist. He had two baskets in Bayreuth’s final big push including a dunk with 48 seconds to seal the win. Bruhnke did not play in the Round 16 game against MHP RIESEN Ludwigs-burg.
Jason George, 20, SG, FC Bayern Munich
George started against NINERS Chemnitz and played 19:35 minutes, picking up 4 points on 1-of-3 shooting (0-2 on threes) and 2-of-2 free throws and 3 rebounds.
Johannes Patrick, 20, PG, MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg
Patrick collected 3 points on 1-of-3 shooting (1-of-2 threes), 1 rebound, 1 as-sist and 1 steal in 8:23 minutes against medi bayreuth.
Germans Abroad
This week we are going to focus on the Dallas Mavericks retiring Dirk Nowtizki’s No. 41 - raising the jersey to the rafters. 41 - Forever.
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Nachberichte
Chemnitz schockt die Bayern erneut / Lockett eiskalt in der Crunchtime
Nachberichte
Keine Zuschauer, kein Heimsieg: Bonn verliert 80:92 gegen Hamburg / Caleb Homesley mit 33 Punkten
Nachberichte
