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Home/Newscenter/PJC drops 40 on Bamberg / Darden still can do it late / Oldenburg fire Drijencic

Weekly NewsPJC drops 40 on Bamberg / Darden still can do it late / Oldenburg fire Drijencic

24. Januar 2022
This week had a couple of game-winners late but the biggest highlight was Parker Jackson-Cartwright continuing to make his case for MVP as he dropped 40 points on Brose Bamberg in a big win for Telekom Baskets Bonn. One of the late clutch shots came from the ageless Tremmell Darden in MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg’s win at ALBA BERLIN. EWE Baskets Oldenburg meanwhile had seen enough and fired head coach Mladen Drijencic.

This week had a couple of game-winners late but the biggest highlight was Parker Jackson-Cartwright continuing to make his case for MVP as he dropped 40 points on Brose Bamberg in a big win for Telekom Baskets Bonn. One of the late clutch shots came from the ageless Tremmell Darden in MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg’s win at ALBA BERLIN. EWE Baskets Oldenburg meanwhile had seen enough and fired head coach Mladen Drijencic. 

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:

PJC drops 40 in Bonn’s win over Bamberg 

Parker Jackson-Cartwright added another argument in his case for league MVP as he dropped 40 points in helping Telekom Baskets Bonn to a convincing 95-81 victory over Brose Bamberg to snap a three-game losing streak. PJC drained 8 three-pointers in becoming the first player to score 40 points in an easyCredit BBL game since Frantz Massenat hit for 40 on March 31, 2019 for EWE Baskets Oldenburg against BG Göttingen. After Jackson-Cartwright scored his team’s first 17 points, Bonn reeled off a 14-2 run spanning the first two quarters to take an 18-point lead and never really were threatened in moving to 13-5 while Bamberg fell to 7-10. Bonn committed only 9 turnovers and buried 18 three-pointers while holding Bamberg to 32.1 percent from long range. In addition to his scoring, Jackson-Cartwright also had 5 assists and he was helped by Justin Gorham with 17 points and 9 rebounds while Karsten Tadda had 11 points and Jeremy Morgan added 10 points. Christian Sengfelder tallied 18 points and 9 rebounds to lead Bamberg, who also saw Tomas Kyzlink score 17 points in the loss. 

Darden jumper gives Ludwigsburg win over Berlin 

MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg picked up a big victory in the battle for a home court advantage spot in the playoffs as they battled past ALBA BERLIN 76-75 on the road. Ludwigsburg led by 10 points in the second quarter and the advantage was nine in the fourth quarter until Berlin pulled ahead 75-74 on Maodo Lo’s floater with 63 seconds left. But Tremmell Darden came through with a baseline jumper with 10 seconds left for the win - Ludwigsburg’s third straight for a 12-6 mark while Berlin fell to 10-5. Ludwigsburg drained 47.8 percent of their three-pointers while Berlin were held to 33.3 percent from long range. Darden finished the game with 22 points while Jonah Radebaugh and James Woodard both scored 10 points in the win. Jaleen Smith paced Berlin with 12 points against his old team while Lo, Ben Lammers and Yovel Zoosman all scored 10 points. 

Oldenburg have seen enough, fire Drijencic, name assistant Abaz head coach 

EWE Baskets Oldenburg had seen enough as they fired head coach Mladen Drijencic following the team’s loss to SYNTAINICS MBC in the Round 12 make-up game - the fifth straight loss for the last placed team. Oldenburg replaced Drijencic with his assistant coach Alen Abaz. Oldenburg not only have been reeling in the easyCredit BBL, where they were 2-11 at the time of Drijencic’s firing, but they had also been bounced from the group phase of the Basketball Champions League. Oldenburg have been dealing with Covid-19 issues and will have six games before the FIBA window in late February. The 56-year-old Drijencic helped the club to the 2015 German Cup title. The 48-year-old Abaz joined the club in 2019. 

MBC end losing streak with win over Oldenburg in Round 12 

SYNTAINICS MBC snapped a five-game losing streak as they knocked off EWE Baskets Oldenburg 87-82 at home in a Round 12 make-up game. Oldenburg led much of the first half but MBC took the third quarter 21-11 and grabbed the win to improve to 5-12 while Oldenburg dropped their fifth straight for a 2-11 mark. Oldenburg committed only 3 turnovers but made just 41.0 percent in the game while watching MBC hit a white-hot 57.9 from long range. Jamel Morris paced the winners with 21 points while Nikola Rebic had 16 points, Goran Huskic scored 15 and Reggie Upshaw chipped in 15 points and 11 rebounds. Michal Michalak scored 20 points in the loss with Phil Pressey picking up 12 points and 12 assists. 

MBC finished important week with second win 

SYNTAINICS MBC finished off a great week as they picked up their second win with a 93-83 victory over BG Göttingen at home to establish a bit of breathing room in the fight against relegation. MBC raced away in the first quarter with a 13-0 run to lead by 13 points and never really were threatened the rest of the way for their second straight win and a 6-12 record with Göttingen falling to 10-7. MBC survived 18 turnovers as they dominated the glass 43-31 and shot 57.4 percent for the game. Jamel Morris poured in 22 points, Nikola Rebic had 19 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists and Goran Huskic chipped in 17 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Kamar Baldwin scored 19 points and Harper Kamp tallied 18 points in the loss. 

Shorts, Crailsheim spoil debut of new Oldenburg coach Abaz 

HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim spoiled the debut of EWE Baskets Oldenburg’s new head coach as they picked up a 97-86 home victory. With Alen Abaz taking over the reins from the fired Mladen Drijencic, Crailsheim raced ahead with a 31-17 first quarter and never looked back to improve to 11-6 while Oldenburg lost their sixth straight for a 2-12 mark. Oldenburg did not shoot a bad 47.5 percent for the game but Crailsheim made 55.2 percent from the field including 55.6 percent from long range. T.J. Shorts dominated play with 24 points and 11 assists while Maurice Stuckey and Jaren Lewis both scored 15 points. Tai Odiase paced five Oldenburg players in double figures with 16 points with Bennet Hundt scoring 15 points with 5 three-pointers. 

Crailsheim sign Gudmundsson, reuniting guard with Coach Gleim 

HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim strengthened their backcourt with a familiar face as they signed Jon Axel Gudmundsson until the end of the season. The 25-year-old Iceland international had been playing this season at Italian club Fortitudo Bologna. Gudmundsson knows the easyCredit BBL as he played last season at FRAPORT SKYLINERS, where he played under current Crailsheim head coach Sebastian Gleim. 

Ulm march continues, Blossomgame and co. too much for Chemnitz 

ratiopharm ulm’s march through the league rolled on as they knocked off upstart NINERS Chemnitz 77-68 at home for their fourth straight victory. With assistant coach Tyron McCoy filling in for head coach Jaka Lakovic, Ulm dominated the second quarter and led by 15 points to start the second half but blew that lead as Chemnitz tied it in the third quarter. Ulm punched right back with a 13-0 run and improved their record to 12-5 with Chemnitz falling to 11-6. The hosts held Chemnitz to just 41.4 percent shooting including 29.0 percent from long range. Jaron Blossomgame scored 18 points with 8 rebounds to lead Ulm while Karim Jallow had 15 points and Sindarius Thornwell tallied 12 points and 8 rebounds. Nelson Weidemann, Isiaha Mike and Trent Lockett all scored 14 points for Chemnitz. 

Bayern too much for Heidelberg, remain tops in the league 

FC Bayern Munich remained the top team in the league as they were too strong for MLP Academics Heidelberg with a 92-70 road victory. Bayern built an early 12-point lead in the first quarter but watched the hosts tie the game early in the second quarter. Bayern ended up taking the frame 29-16 and cruised to the win to move to 13-4 while Heidelberg fell to 6-11. Bayern committed only 4 turnovers, won the rebound battle 41-33 and held Heidelberg to 40.6 percent shooting for the game. Augustine Rubit poured in 19 points while Ognjen Jaramaz scored 16 points, Deshaun Thomas had 14 points and Leon Radosevic chipped in 10 points. Robert Lowery was Heidelberg’s top scorer with 15 points and Max Ugrai had 13 points and 8 rebounds. 

McCullum flirts with triple-double as Giessen snap losing streak 

JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers finally returned to the win column as they knocked off short-handed Hamburg Towers 100-73 at home to end an eight-game losing streak. Giessen laid the foundation for the win with a 20-9 second quarter and never looked back to improve to 4-13 while Hamburg dropped to 10-7. Hamburg, who traveled to Giessen with only nine players, shot just 41.3 percent from the field including 29.6 percent from long range and committed 19 turnovers. Felix Koch led the way with a career high 24 points and Kendale McCullum flirted with a triple-double as he collected 22 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Nuni Omot chiped in 18 points and Phillip Fayne added 10 points and 7 rebounds. Jaylon Brown paced Hamburg with 24 points and Caleb Homesley tallied 19 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists. 

Giessen add shooter with Laksa signing 

JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers added some outside shooting as they signed 31-year-old sniper Martins Laksa until the end of the season. The Latvian last played for Hungarian side Alba Fehervar, where he averaged 12.7 points and 4.2 rebounds. 

Anim and-one wins it late for Bayreuth over Braunschweig 

medi bayreuth continue to survive without their two German national team leaders as they prevailed 94-92 at home over Basketball Löwen Braunschweig. Braunschweig jumped ahead by 13 points early in the second half but 5 points was the biggest lead in the final 9 minutes. Sacar Anim came up with the game-winning three-point play with 6.6 seconds left as Bayreuth improved to 8-9 and Braunschweig moved to 6-10. Bayreuth converted 24-of-30 free throws compared to 14-of-20 for Braunschweig. Marcus Thornton was Bayreuth’s leading scorer with 27 points while Anim finished with 17 points, Terry Allen had 14 and Martynas Sajus picked up 13 points and 11 rebounds. Martin Peterka poured in 22 points for Braunschweig with Tookie Brown scoring 19 points with 5 assists and Owen Klassen adding 13 points. 

Player of the Week 

The Player of the Week for Round 18 goes to Kendale McCullum from Job-Stairs GIESSEN 46ers for his outstanding performance against Hamburg To-wers. He collected 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting and 2-of-3 free throws to go with 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals and 1 block for an efficiency of 35. 

German Top Five of the Week 

G: Nelson Weidemann, NINERS Chemnitz 

Weidemann had his first big game since returning from his injury as he collected 14 points, 1 rebound and 2 steals against ratiopharm ulm. Weidemann had played only 13 minutes over his two previous games with 2 points after missing more than two months of action. 

G: Maurice Stuckey, HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim 

Stuckey played a major role in Crailsheim’s win over EWE Baskets Oldenburg as he scored 15 points to go with 3 rebounds and 1 steal. 

F: Karim Jallow, ratiopharm ulm 

Jallow is seems to rounding back into form as he collected 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals against NINERS Chemnitz. 

F: Felix Koch, JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers 

Koch led Giessen in scoring in the win over Hamburg Towers as he poured in a career-high 24 points while also picking up 5 rebounds. 

C: Christian Sengfelder, Brose Bamberg 

After two sub-par games, Sengfelder was again in form with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 1 assist - albeit in a loss to Telekom Baskets Bonn. Sengfelder had scored in double figures in every game until picking up just 8 and 7 points in his last two contests. 

Young Guns 

Jason George, 20, SG, FC Bayern Munich 

George continues to play a key role for Bayern as he started and played 27:49 minutes in scoring 3 points on 1-of-4 shots (1/2 threes) while grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 1 assist against MLP Academics Heidelberg 

Kay Bruhnke, 20, SG, medi bayreuth 

Bruhnke picked up 5 points on 2-of-4 shooting (1/2 threes) to go with 1 rebound and 1 steal in 11:11 minutes against Basketball Löwen Braunschweig. 

Johannes Patrick, 20, PG, MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg 

Patrick had 5 points on 2-of-4 shooting (1/2 threes), and 1 rebound in 10:47 minutes in the win over ALBA BERLIN. 

Tischlers Watch 

The 21-year-old Tischler twins could not help Basketball Löwen Braunschweig from losing against medi bayreuth. Nicholas Tischler started the game and played 22:11 minutes, scoring a career-high 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting (0/1 threes) and 2-of-3 free throws while also picking up 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 1 block. Brandon Tischler had 1 point on 0-of-2 shoo-ting and 1-of-2 free throws with 3 rebounds in 6:44 minutes. 

Germans Abroad 

Sam Griesel has been playing great for North Dakota State, and over the weekend he hit the game-winner for the Bison against Oral Roberts as he picked up 18 points to go with 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Earlier in the week Griesel topped the 20-point mark for the third time this season when he poured in 23 points with 7 rebounds against University of Missouri-Kansas City. The 21-year-old Griesel, who helped Germany take third place at the FIBA U20 European Championship 2019, scored 25 points against Indiana State and South Dakota State in December. He is averaging 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists this season.