Reigning champions ratiopharm ulm picked up a big early win at home over ALBA BERLIN with Juan Nunez taking over late to keep the team undefeated. Another perfect team is promoted RASTA Vechta, the early surprise of the season after a fourth straight win - three in the easyCredit BBL. The only other team without a defeat is the only team with only one game played - BG Göttingen, who finally took the court domestically and beat HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim in double overtime.
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:
Nunez takes over late as Ulm beat Berlin, stay perfect
ratiopharm ulm remain perfect thus far in their quest to repeat their title after the reigning champs handed ALBA BERLIN their first loss of the season 100-88. Berlin led for the first 28 minutes - including by 11 points in the second quarter - but Ulm eventually put the game away with a 16-2 fourth quarter run - powered by Juan Nunez with 7 points and 4 assists. Ulm remained perfect at 3-0 and Berlin dropped to 2-1. Ulm shot 60.9 percent for the game including 69.1 percent on two-pointers and forced Berlin into 17 turnovers. Karim Jallow was Ulm’s leading scorer with 18 points, Nunez totalled 17 points and 10 assists and Trevion Williams added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Johannes Thiemann paced Berlin with 19 points and Matt Thomas scored 16 points.
4 up, 4 down: Vechta still undefeated after rolling Tübingen in rematch of ProA Finals
RASTA Vechta remain one of the early surprises of the league as the promoted side rolled past Tigers Tübingen 103-72 at home to remain perfect this season. In a rematch of last season’s ProA Finals - won by Vechta - the hosts jumped ahead 32-20 after 10 minutes and never looked back in moving to 3-0 and Tübingen slumped to 1-2. Vechta, who also won their first round game in the BBL German Cup, committed only 10 turnovers and out-rebounded Tübingen 44-29 while also shooting 45.5 percent from long range. Joel Aminu top-scored for Vechta with 24 points while teenage big man Johann Grünloh had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Wes Iwundu came off the bench for 14 points. Jhivvan Jackson led Tübingen with 16 points and 7 assists.
Hume, Ensminger shine in Göttingen’s first game, double OT win over Crailsheim
It was worth the wait for BG Göttingen as they were the last team to play their first game and it was a wild one, beating HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim 110-104 in double overtime. Göttingen raced ahead by 17 points in the first quarter but was trailing midway through the second quarter. The rest of the game was close and Karlis Silins’ three-pointer with 16 seconds forced overtime. Zach Ensminger knotted the game at 99-99 with 61 seconds left in the first extra session and Bodie Hume blocked Fabian Bleck’s shot with 3 seconds to go to send the game to a second overtime. Ensminger added a layup and three-pointer in the decisive 7-0 run. Göttingen went to 1-0 and Crailsheim fell to 1-2. Göttingen committed only 12 turnovers in 50 minutes, allowing only three Crailsheim fastbreak points. Hume was unstoppable for Göttingen with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks while Ensminger scored 22 points with 6 assists off the bench and Umoja Gibson tallied 19 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 steals. Leo Westermann scored 24 points with 9 assists in the loss and Keandre Cook added 22 points.
Tübingen surprise Bonn for first win of season in Round 1 makeup
Tigers Tübingen surprised Telekom Baskets Bonn for their first victory of the season, beating last season’s runners-up 88-76 on the road in a Round 1 make-up game. Tübingen allowed only 9 points in the second quarter and extended the lead to 23 points late in the third quarter. Tübingen moved to 1-1 and Bonn fell to 0-2. Tübingen held Bonn to just 36.8 percent shooting and forced 21 turnovers. Jhivvan Jackson led the way for the winners with 27 points and 5 rebounds while Christoph Philipps added a career high 23 points off the bench. Glynn Watson collected 22 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists off the bench for Bonn.
Pape, Sengfelder score 37 as Bonn breeze by Wolfpack for first win
Telekom Baskets Bonn finally registered their first victory of the season as they breezed by SYNTAINICS MBC 100-73. Bonn ran away with the game in the second half with a 29-19 third quarter and improved to 1-2 and SYNTAINICS MBC are winless at 0-3. Bonn shot 54.6 percent for the game and committed only 7 turnovers while holding the guests to just 41.2 percent including 23.1 percent from long range. Till Pape scored 21 points with 5 rebounds, Christian Sengfelder had 16 points and 6 rebounds and Harald Frey added 12 points and 9 assists. John Bryant came off the Wolves bench for a team-high 15 points.
Chemnitz hand Braunschweig first defeat after losing big leads
NINERS Chemnitz wasted a 20-point lead and an 11-point fourth quarter cushion but still grabbed their first road victory of the season by beating Basketball Löwen Braunschweig 86-81. After coming back from a 20-point deficit in the second quarter, Braunschweig erased an 11-point margin in the final frame and took the lead. But Chemnitz scored the final six points of the game to survive for a 2-1 record in the league - the same mark for Braunschweig. Kaza Kajami-Keane paced Chemnitz with 23 points, Kevin Yebo had 19 points and 8 rebounds and DeAndre Lansdowne added 13 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists against his former team. Nicholas Tischler scored 18 points for Braunschweig and Jilson Bango tallied 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Graves nears triple-double as Ludwigsburg pull away in fourth
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg secured their first win of the season as they pulled away late for 78-60 triumph at Würzburg Baskets. Ludwigsburg never trailed, building a 12-point second quarter lead but losing it all before pulling away with a 13-3 start to the fourth quarter as both teams went to 1-1. Ludwigsburg survived committing 19 turnovers because they held Würzburg to just 34.9 percent shooting, including 14.3 percent from long range. Jayvon Graves flirted with a triple-double with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists; Eddy Edigin scored 17 points with 9 rebounds and Elijah Childs added 10 points and 8 rebounds. Max Ugrai was the only Würzburg player in double figures with 13 points.
Oldenberg confirm win over Bayern, keep Heidelberg winless
EWE Baskets Oldenburg followed their home win over FC Bayern Munich with a hard-fought 92-83 victory at MLP Academics Heidelberg, who are still waiting for their first win. The first three quarters were close until Oldenburg scored the first 5 points of the final frame for a 12-point lead and never let the hosts closer than 8 points the rest of the way. Oldenburg jumped to 2-1 and Heidelberg are winless at 0-3. Heidelberg shot a white-hot 84.6 percent on two-pointers but just 19.2 percent from long range while Oldenburg hit 50.8 percent of their shots and had just 8 turnovers. DeWayne Russell picked up 21 points and 6 assists, Deane Williams scored 21 points and Charles Manning added 18 points. Vincent Kesteloot was Heidelberg’s top scorer with 16 points.
Second quarter carries Bayern past Hamburg
FC Bayern Munich bounced back from their road loss to EWE Baskets Oldenburg by easing past Veolia Towers Hamburg 90-79 at home. Bayern took over the game with 26-10 second quarter and it wasn’t close the rest of the way, Bayern improving to 2-1 and Hamburg dropping to 1-2. Hamburg shot just 39.3 percent for the game including 27.6 percent from long range which offset committing just 7 turnovers. Sylvain Francisco came off the Bayern bench for 18 points, Andi Obst scored 16 points and Serge Ibaka added 15 points and 7 rebounds. William Christmas led Hamburg with 18 points while Aljami Durham picked up 14 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
Player of the Week
Player of the Week went to BG Göttingen forward Bodie Hume with an efficiency of 40 in the team’s double-overtime win over HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim. Hume scored 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 5-of-7 free throws to go with 14 rebounds, 1 steal and 3 blocks.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Zach Ensminger, BG Göttingen
Ensminger was outstanding in his first game of the season for his new team as the 22-year-old poured in 22 points with 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in a double-overtime win over HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim.
G: Joel Aminu, RASTA Vechta
Aminu continued his fantastic start to the season with 24 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assists against Tigers Tübingen.
F: Karim Jallow, ratiopharm ulm
Jallow remains a force for Ulm with 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in a win over ALBA BERLIN.
F: Till Pape, Telekom Baskets Bonn
Pape had a strong game with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists against SYNTAINICS MBC.
C: Kevin Yebo, NINERS Chemnitz
Yebo played a major role in Chemnitz beating Basketball Löwen Braunschweig with 19 points and 8 rebounds.
Young Guns
Johann Grünloh, 18, C, RASTA Vechta
Grünloh has not shied away from the professional level as he provided another major boost to Vechta with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting, 10 rebounds and 1 steal in 15:54 minutes against Tigers Tübingen.
Ivan Kharchenkov, 17, SG, FC Bayern Munich
Kharchenkov played 14:50 minutes for Bayern against Veolia Towers Hamburg and picked up 4 points on 0-of-1 shooting and 4-of-4 free throws to go with 1 steal.
Luis Wulff, 19, SG, HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim
Wulff, who is on loan from FC Bayern Munich, scored 3 points on 1-of-4 three-pointers to go with 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in 19:21 minutes against BG Göttingen.
Germans Abroad
World champion Johannes Voigtmann had a strong game for EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague opener with 21 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists in an 85-82 road loss to Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul.
RelatedNews
On the Road
Kleber verliert mit Dallas die NBA-Finals / Nach sechs Titeln: Pleiß verlässt Istanbul / Voigtmann und Lo sind italienischer Meister
Nachberichte
37 Punkte von Pape und Sengfelder: Telekom Baskets verjagen „Wölfe“ mit Hunderter aus dem Rheinland
Nachberichte
