NINERS Chemnitz just keep winning as they downed hot Veolia Towers Hamburg for their 15th straight win this season in all competition. This week also saw FC Bayern Munich hand RASTA Vechta their first home loss of the season and MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg overcame 29 points from World Cup champion Johannes Thiemann in beating ALBA BERLIN.
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:
Chemnitz unstoppable, down hot Hamburg for 15-game win streak
NINERS Chemnitz shrugged off hot Veolia Towers Hamburg to remain the league’s hottest team with a 96-87 victory to extend their win streak to 8 games - and 15 straight wins in all competitions - while Hamburg saw their four-game winning streak stopped. Chemnitz ran away to a 14-point lead in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game in moving to 8-1 while Hamburg dropped to 5-4. Chemnitz shot 59.7 percent from the field including a white-hot 71.1 percent on two-pointers while also forcing 20 Hamburg turnovers. Wes van Beck paced Chemnitz with 25 points while Aher Uguak had 15 points and 9 assists, Jonas Richter and Kevin Yebo both scored 15 points and DeAndre Lansdowne chipped in 10 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists. Hamburg’s VJ King led all scorers with 30 points and Aljami Durham had 23 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in the loss.
Bayern barely hold on, snap Vechta home winning streak
FC Bayern Munich nearly blew a big fourth quarter lead but managed to hold on for an 85-81 victory at RASTA Vechta, who suffered their first home loss of the season and snapped a 29-game home winning streak. After a tight first half, Bayern opened a 13-point lead in the third quarter and the cushion was as many as 16 points with less than 5 minutes to play. Vechta fought back into the game and made it 81-79 with 25 seconds to go but Carsen Edwards and Nick Weiler-Babb both made two free throws down the stretch as Bayern grabbed its second straight win for a 6-3 mark - the same record for Vechta, who are now 5-1 at home. Bayern committed only 6 turnovers and made 20-of-25 free throws compared to 9-of-12 Vechta foul shots. Edwards led Bayern with 24 points and 5 assists while Devin Booker had 17 points and 7 rebounds and Sylvain Francisco picked up 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Tommy Kuhse was his usual strong self with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists though he committed 6 turnovers in the loss.
Ludwigsburg overcome 29 points from Thiemann in downing ALBA MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg overcame a career night from world champion Johannes Thiemann in grabbing an 87-79 home victory over ALBA BERLIN, who have now dropped two in a row. Ludwigsburg took control of the game with a 28-13 second quarter in building a 15-point lead. Berlin cut it down to two points in the third quarter but could only get as close as three points in the final frame and Ludwigsburg moved to 5-3 and Berlin to 6-2. Berlin committed 23 turnovers and made just 4-of-12 three-pointers to offset them actually out-shooting Ludwigsburg from the field to 51.7 percent to 47.1 percent. Desure Buie collected 26 points and 6 assists and Jayvon Graves added 10 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists as the only other Ludwigsburg player in double figures. Thiemann poured in a career-high 29 points but they were not enough for Berlin.
Jallow helps Ulm surge past Crailsheim late, Merlins losing skid at 8 games
ratiopharm ulm remained atop the easyCredit BBL with a hard-fought 94-87 victory at home over HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim, who saw their losing skid extend to eight games. Crailsheim led for most of the first three quarters before Ulm finally pushed the lead out to 11 points in the closing minutes. The reigning champs won their fourth straight game for an 8-1 record while Crailsheim are 1-8. Ulm shot a blistering 76.2 percent on two-pointers and out-scored Crailsheim 58-34 on points in the paint. Karim Jallow scored a season-high 26 points with 6 rebounds while Trevion Williams collected 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals and Juan Nunez pitched in 13 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. Brandon Childress was Crailsheim’s leading scorer with 23 points and Fabian Bleck had career highs with 18 points and 9 rebounds.
Bonn continue climb up standings, roll past Heidelberg
Telekom Baskets Bonn appear to have shaken off their cold start of the season as they picked up their third straight victory by rolling past MLP Academics Heidelberg 92-69 at home to continue their climb up the standings. Bonn led by 9 points after 10 points and had a 12-0 surge early in the second quarter to move to 6-3 and Heidelberg fell to 2-7. Bonn shot 50.0 percent from the field including 60.0 percent on two-pointers and limited Heidelberg to 36.1 percent shooting. Savion Flagg had 19 points and 9 rebounds to lead Bonn with Christian Sengfelder tying a season-high 16 points and Till Pape chipping in 15 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Niklas Würzner topped Heidelberg with 12 points off the bench with the starters combining for just 36 points.
Rostock end mini skid, keep Göttingen free-falling
ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES snapped a three-game losing streak by registering a 96-92 home victory over BG Göttingen, who have now lost six in a row. The game was close throughout with 9 points being the biggest lead and there were 18 lead changes and 9 ties. Sid-Marlon Theis hit a big three-pointer late and added two free throws with 16 seconds left to win the game and get Rostock to 3-5 and Göttingen fell to 1-6. Rostock committed only 7 turnovers and turned 13 offensive rebounds into an advantage of 22 to 12 in second chance points. Derrick Altson led all scorers with 24 points, Chevez Goodwin collected 19 points and 14 rebounds - 10 of those offensive rebounds, and Tyler Nelson chipped in 15 points. Fedor Zugic picked up 20 points off the bench to lead Göttingen while Bodie Hume had 18 points and Zach Ensminger tallied 11 points and 8 assists.
Bench carries Bamberg past Braunschweig
Bamberg Baskets got a big performance from their bench as they knocked off Basketball Löwen Braunschweig 92-78 at home. Braunschweig led by 9 points early in the second half but watched as Bamberg went on a 26-6 run to take control and move to 3-5 while Braunschweig lost their third straight for a 3-6 mark. Bamberg shot 56.5 percent from the field including 43.5 percent on three-pointers while holding Braunschweig to just 29.4 percent from long range. Zach Copeland came off the bench on fire with 5 three-pointers for 27 points while Trey Woodbury had 16 points and fellow reserve EJ Onu chipped in 11 points as the starting five combined for just 29 points. Martin Peterka was Braunschweig’s top scorer with 14 points.
Tübingen three-point barrage too much for Oldenburg
Tigers Tübingen drained 20 three-pointers to help pull away from EWE Baskets Oldenburg 93-84 at home after having given up a big lead. Tübingen built a 13-point first quarter advantage and the cushion grew to 16 points in the second and third quarters until Oldenburg went on a 15-1 run and took the lead in the fourth quarter. The hosts reclaimed control with a 13-2 surge to move to 3-6 and Oldenburg fell to 5-4 after a third straight loss. Tübingen shot 52.6 percent from long range and Oldenburg managed just 33.3 percent on three-pointers. Erol Ersek poured in 18 points to lead Tübingen while Jhivvan Jackson scored 16 points and Gianni Otto chipped in 6 points and 12 assists. DeWayne Russell led Oldenburg with 20 points and 7 assists and new addition Geno Crandall tallied 19 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists in the loss.
Road warriors Würzburg snap winning streak from Wolves
Würzburg Baskets continued their strong play this season on the road as they defeated SYNTAINICS MBC 88-77 to snap the hosts’ three-game winning streak. The hosts jumped ahead by 10 points in the opening minutes but gave up the lead before the end of the quarter. Würzburg started the second half with a 16-2 run and rolled to the win, which improved them to 4-4 - including a 3-1 mark away from home - and SYNTAINICS MBC fell to 3-6. Würzburg committed only 6 turnovers to 17 for the hosts and made 17-of-19 free throws compared to 6-of-8 for the home side. Zac Seljaas and Isaiah Washington paced Würzburg with 18 points each, Otis Livingston totaled 16 points and 11 assists and Maxi Ugrai chipped in 16 points. Diante Baldwin and Johnathan Stove both scored 13 points in the defeat.
Player of the Week
The Player of the Week for Round 9 goes to Bamberg Baskets’ Zach Copeland for his outstanding performance in the win over Basketball Löwen Braunschweig. The shooting guard scored 27 points off the bench on 8-of-14 shots - including 5-of-8 three-pointers - and 6-of-6 free throws to go along with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and just 1 turnover for an efficiency of 32.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Zach Ensminger, BG Göttingen
Ensminger has been one of the revelations of the season thus far for Göttingen and he picked up 11 points, 2 rebounds and 8 assists against ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES.
G: Gianni Otto, Tigers Tübingen
The 28-year-old easyCredit BBL first-timer already had one game with 12 points and now Otto tallied 6 points, 1 rebound, 12 assists and 2 steals off the bench against EWE Baskets Oldenburg.
F: Karim Jallow, ratiopharm ulm
Jallow was fantastic in Ulm’s tough fight with HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 1 steal.
F: Johannes Thiemann, ALBA BERLIN
What a performance by the World Cup champion as Thiemann scored a career high 29 points to go with 7 rebounds, but they were not enough against MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg.
C: Till Pape, Telekom Baskets Bonn
It’s hard to not include Bamberg Baskets’ Filip Stanic for his 15 points and 7 rebounds - 5 of them offensive rebounds - but Pape had a stronger all-around game with 15 points, 4 rebounds, a career high 6 assists and 1 steal versus MLP Academics Heidelberg.
Young Guns
Sananda Fru, 20, PF, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
Fru picked up 9 points on 3-of-5 shooting (0/1 threes) and 3-of-4 free throws, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in 16:00 minutes against Bamberg Baskets.
Len Schoormann, 21, SG, EWE Baskets Oldenburg
Schoormann started the game against Tigers Tübingen and collected 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting (2/5 threes) and 2-of-2 free throws, 3 rebounds and 1 steal in 25:18 minutes.
Luis Wullf, 19, SG, HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim
Wullf contributed 3 points on 1-of-2 shots (1/1 threes) and 2 rebounds in 10:32 minutes against ratiopharm ulm.
Germans Abroad
Former ALBA BERLIN talent Dwayne Koroma had his best game of the young season for University of Texas-Arlington with 12 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists against Alcorn State. Through 5 games, Koroma, who has also played for Iona College and Salt Lake Community College, is averaging 5.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals.
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