What a week of action and the biggest headline was Veolia Hamburg Towers surprising FC Bayern Munich in overtime thanks to a huge night from Kendale McCullum. A very close second was league debutants ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES winning two more games - including one in double-overtime - for a perfect 4-0 record. At the other end of the standings, JJ Frazier’s late layup gave FRAPORT SKYLINERS their first win of the season.
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:
McCullum show gets Hamburg past Bayern in OT
Veolia Hamburg Towers picked up a big victory in their new era under new head coach Raoul Korner as they knocked off FC Bayern Munich 81-78 in overtime at home. Hamburg raced ahead by 13 points in the first quarter but trailed by five points at halftime. The hosts led by 10 points in the third but Bayern pulled in front with a 15-1 run spanning the final two quarters before Ziga Samar hit a layup with 9.3 seconds left to send the game to overtime. Hamburg converted on six of their last seven possessions for their third straight win and a 3-1 record, the same mark for Bayern after their first loss. Hamburg held Bayern to just 34.8 percent shooting and turned 13 steals into a 13-5 advantage in fast break points. Kendale McCullum tallied 31 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 7 steals for Hamburg while Yoeli Childs picked up 13 points and 11 rebounds and Samar added 12 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals. Cassius Winston led Bayern with 25 points and Freddie Gillespie collected 11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks.
Rostock fairytale rolls on, 4-0 after win at Göttingen
Don’t wake up ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES and their fans as the league debutants continued their fairytale with a 95-92 victory at BG Göttingen for their fourth straight win to start the season. Rostock controlled the first half but the tables switched with a 27-20 third quarter for Göttingen, who even led by nine points in the final frame. But Derrick Alston Jr. hit four free throws in the final 12 seconds for the Rostock win with Göttingen falling to 2-1. Rostock shot a blistering 61.0 percent for the game including a white-hot 70.7 percent on two-pointers in dishing out 25 assists. Alston Jr. ended with 23 points for the hosts, who also had Tyler Nelson and Selom Mawugbe score 16 points and JeQuan Lewis pick up 9 points, 7 rebounds and 13 assists. Rayshaun Hammonds came off the bench to lead Göttingen with 18 points while Harald Frey scored 16 points and Mark Smith flirted with a triple-double in tallying 11 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
Alston Jr., Lewis, Pearson carry Rostock past Braunschweig in 2 OTs
ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES’ dream start to their first season reached a third straight win as they prevailed at home 110-95 in double overtime over Basketball Löwen Braunschweig in a Round 1 makeup game. Braunschweig dominated the first half and then saw Rostock take the third quarter 29-17. The SEAWOLVES led by five points with 2 minutes left fourth quarter but Braunschweig came back and Robin Amaize forced overtime with a layup with 0.7 seconds left. David Krämer hit a layup with 23 seconds to send the game to a second extra session, where Rostock took control with 12 straight points for a 3-0 record and Braunschweig fell to 0-3. Rostock took advantage of its transition offense with 27 fast break points compared to 11 for Braunschweig while they also made 31-of-39 (79.5 percent) free throws compared to 14-of-26 (53.9 percent) for the guests. Rostock continue to be led by their big three with Derrick Alston Jr. (31 points/3 rebounds/0 assists/0 steals), JeQuan Lewis (28/7/11/3) and Nijal Pearson (13/14/5/3) combining for 72 points, 24 rebounds, 16 assists and 6 steals. David Krämer scored 25 points to lead Braunschweig while Benedikt Turudic had 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists and Braydon Hobbs had 5 rebounds and 12 assists.
Frazier layup gives Skyliners first win of season
FRAPORT SKYLINERS have finally tasted success this season as they came back to beat SYNTAINICS 79-77 with JJ Frazier converting a layup with 5.1 seconds for the win. The guests led by 10 points in the third quarter and were up by seven in the final frame when Frankfurt’s Joshua Obiesie scored six points on one possession off an unsportsmanlike foul. After Frazier’s layup, Lamont Jones put back a miss but it was ruled after the buzzer and Frankfurt moved to 1-3 while SYNTAINICS MBC dropped to 1-2. Frankfurt had a 38-20 advantage on points in the paint and held the guests to 39.5 percent on two-pointers. Martinas Geben paced Frankfurt with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists and Obiesie finished with 14 points. Kris Clyburn scored 21 points in the loss.
Bonn still perfect thanks to dominant Kratzer against Braunschweig
Telekom Baskets Bonn bounced from their disappointing MagentaSport BBL German Cup loss to ALBA BERLIN with a hard-fought 79-72 win at Basketball Löwen Braunschweig. Bonn jumped ahead by 10 points in the first quarter and led most of the game but never pulled away, only finishing the game with free throws down the stretch to improve to 3-0 and drop Braunschweig to 0-4. Bonn dominated the game inside with a 46-32 advantage of points in the paint, also shooting a blistering 64.1 percent on two-pointers. A major part of that was Leon Kratzer, who scored 24 points and grabbed 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. TJ Shorts was held to 15 points but dished out 4 assists. David Krämer tallied 20 points in the loss.
Berlin finish tough stretch with tough home win over Heidelberg
Reigning champions ALBA BERLIN showed their resilience as they finished off a tough stretch of four games in seven days by fending off MLP Academics Heidelberg 78-70 at home to stay undefeated. The hosts could never pull away with five points the biggest lead in the first three quarters. The game was only decided with a 9-2 surge inside the final 3 minutes to move to 4-0 and drop Heidelberg to 1-2. Berlin held Heidelberg to just 37.1 percent from the field and dominated inside with a 48-26 advantage on points in the paint. Yovel Zoosman was top scorer for Berlin with 18 points and 9 rebounds with Christ Koumadje picking up 14 points and 8 rebounds. Eric Washington totalled 21 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists in the loss.
Three-pointers do the job for Ludwigsburg over winless Bamberg
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg collected their first home win of the season as they fended off winless Brose Bamberg 92-78. Ludwigburg were unstoppable in the first half, building a 22-point lead in scoring 53 points. Bamberg made it close in the fourth quarter, getting within four points with 4 minutes to play but then converting just once in the next six possessions. Ludwigsburg improved to 3-1 while Bamberg dropped to 0-4. Ludwigsburg only out-shot Bamberg 42.3 percent to 39.7 percent but they hit 14 three-pointers compared to just 7 for the guests. Jhonathan Dunn drained 6 of those three-pointers in scoring 26 points for Ludwigsburg, who also had Isaiah Whitehead score 18 points. Justin Wright-Foreman paced Bamberg with 24 points and Christian Sengfelder picked up 19 points and 9 rebounds.
Second chance points help Oldenburg keep Ulm winless
EWE Baskets Oldenburg returned to their winning ways at home as they knocked off ratiopharm ulm 81-73. Ulm jumped ahead by 10 points in the first quarter and led briefly in the third quarter before Oldenburg took control with a 10-1 run for a 12-point lead. Ulm never challenged the rest of the way and dropped to 0-4 while Oldenburg improved to 3-1. Oldenburg dominated the glass 41-30 including 15 offensive rebounds which resulted in a 13-2 advantage in second chance points. DeWayne Russell picked up a double-double of 18 points and 10 assists while Trey Drechsel scored 17 points and TJ Holyfield added 13 points and 9 rebounds in the win. Besides Devin Robinson’s 22 points, the rest of the Ulm starting five scored just seven points.
Whittaker led way in Würzburg win at Chemnitz
Würzburg Baskets remained undefeated on the road this season as they knocked off NINERS Chemnitz 86-81. Würzburg built a 12-point lead in the second quarter but had a back-and-forth game in the second half. Cameron Hunt, CJ Bryce and Stanley Whittaker all hit two free throws in the final 30 seconds as Würzburg moved to 2-2 and Chemnitz fell to 0-2. Würzburg committed only 10 turnovers and shot 50.0 percent from the field. Whittaker led the way for Würzburg with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals and Bryce and Hunt both scored 16 points. Kevin Yebo poured in 28 points with 6 rebounds in the loss and Arnas Velicka collected his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 assists and Mindaugas Susinskas came up just short with 12 points and 9 rebounds.
Bayreuth never challenged at home by Crailsheim
medi bayreuth eased to their second victory of the season as they routed HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim 99-77 at home. Bayreuth raced away to a 14-point lead after 10 minutes and were never challenged the rest of the way in moving to 2-2 and Crailsheim fell to 1-3. Bayreuth shot 56.9 percent for the game including 14-of-26 for 53.9 percent from long range. Ignas Sargiunas paced Bayreuth with 19 points while Brandon Childress picked up 16 points and 9 assists. Crailsheim could not take advantage of a strong game from Jaren Lewis, who had 14 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
Player(s) of the Week
The Player of the Week honor goes to three players who all managed an efficiency of 30. Leon Kratzer collected 24 points on 11-of-13 shots and 2-of-2 free throws, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks for Bonn against Basketball Löwen Braunschweig. Kendale McCullum helped Veolia Hamburg Towers beat FC Bayern Munich as he tallied 31 points on 11-of-21 shots and 8-of-10 free throws, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 7 steals for an efficiency of 30. Martinas Geben also had an efficiency of 30 as he scored 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting and 7-of-9 free throws to go with 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in FRAPORT SKYLINERS’ win over SYNTAINICS MBC.
German Top Five of the Week
G: David Krämer, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
Two big games from Krämer could not lead to a win as he collected 25 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block against ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES and picked up 20 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block versus Telekom Baskets Bonn.
G: Joshua Obiesie, FRAPORT SKYLINERS
Obiesie played a major role in Frankfurt getting their first win as he totalled 14 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal against SYNTAINICS MBC.
G: Bruno Vrcic, HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim
Vrcic had an outstanding game of 12 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal in a loss to medi bayreuth.
F: Collin Welp, Würzburg Baskets
The 23-year-old rookie set career highs with 12 points and 6 rebounds and also had 1 steal in Würzburg’s win over NINERS Chemnitz.
C: Leon Kratzer, Telekom Baskets Bonn
As mentioned in the Player of the Week segment, Kratzer was outstanding for Bonn against Basketball Löwen Braunschweig with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Young Guns
Nat Diallo, 22, C, medi bayreuth
The 22-year-old Diallo set career highs with 14:22 minutes and 8 points on 3-of-3 shooting and 2-of-6 free throws to go with 3 rebounds and 1 block against HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim.
Nils Machowski, 18, PG, ALBA BERLIN
Machowski helped fill the void of injured German international point guard Maodo Lo as the 18-year-old collected 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting (0-2 threes), 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 block in 13:56 minutes against MLP Academics Heidelberg - his fourth professional game.
Julius Böhmer, 20, PG, Würzburg Baskets
Böhmer played 10:55 minutes against NINERS Chemnitz and scored 2 points on 1-of-3 shots (0-2 threes) to go with 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 steal.
Germans Abroad
The Egyptian Superleague has now become interesting for German fans as former German national team head coach Henrik Rödl has been hired as new head coach at Itthad Alexandria.
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