Happy New Year to all from Weekly News and the first edition of the News is highlighted by ALBA BERLIN snapping NINERS Chemnitz’s 12-game winning streak in tough, physical style. The team now with the longest winning streak is Würzburg Baskets at six while reigning champs ratiopharm ulm grabbed two wins to gain ground on leaders Chemnitz.
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:
Thiemann, Brown too much for Chemnitz, Berlin snap league leaders’ win streak
ALBA BERLIN showed they are still one of the best teams in the league as they defeated NINERS Chemnitz 101-90 in a physical statement win that snapped the league leaders’ 12-game winning streak. Berlin used a 14-0 run to take a 16-point lead in the first quarter and never really let Chemnitz back into the game - the closest the guests would get was six points in the third quarter. It was ALBA’s second consecutive win in the league for an 8-3 mark - tied with ratiopharm ulm and FC Bayern Munich on losses all one defeat behind 12-2 Chemnitz. The stats were pretty close other than fouls drawn with Berlin receiving 40 free throws - and making 27 of them - on 37 Chemnitz fouls while the guests converted 18-of-26 free throws from 25 Berlin fouls. Sterling Brown led the way with 25 points and Johannes Thiemann scored 17 points, including making 11-of-12 free throws. Yanni Wetzell added 15 points and Malte Delow contributed 4 points and 8 assists. Kevin Yebo was Chemnitz’s leading scorer with 21 points and Wes van Beck had 18 points in the defeat.
Livingston leads Würzburg past Oldenburg for sixth straight win
Würzburg Baskets finished 2023 on a high note with a strong third quarter leading to an 83-78 home victory over EWE Baskets Oldenburg and extend their winning streak to six games. Würzburg took the third stanza 26-18 and built a 20-point lead early in the fourth quarter as Würzburg improved to 9-4. Oldenburg’s struggles continued with their seventh loss in the last eight games for a 6-9 record. Würzburg made 14 triples on 40.0 percent shooting and limited the guests to just 25.0 percent three-point shooting. Oldenburg missed their first 15 three-pointers and were 1-of-18 from long range at one point. Otis Livingston led the way for the hosts with 19 points, Collin Welp scored 14 points and Max Ugrai and Isaiah Washington both picked up 12 points. Geno Crandall collected 22 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in the loss.
Würzburg add wing reinforcements with signing of Little
Würzburg Baskets added reinforcements for the wing as they signed Emmanuel Little until the end of the season. The 24-year-old American arrives from Hungarian top flight side Szolnok. Würzburg have been looking for a new player for some time, but Little will also help the club compensate for the injury to Zac Seljaas.
Ulm open 2024 with win over Braunschweig in Round 13 make-up game
ratiopharm ulm played the first game of 2024 and started the new year with a 90-73 victory over Basketball Löwen Braunschweig at home in a Round 13 make-up game. The 2023 champions took over the game in the second half, leading nearly the entire final 20 minutes by double figures to move to 11-3 with their third straight win. Braunschweig had won three of their last four games but fell to 6-9. Ulm shot 54.7 percent for the game including 62.5 percent on two-pointers while holding Braunschweig to 33.3 percent on three-pointers. Trevion Williams had a big game with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists with Juan Nunez and LJ Figueroa both adding 12 points. Amar Sylla led Braunschweig with 11 points as the only player in double figures. Braunschweig’s starting five was limited to 35 combined points.
Williams, Ulm give Wolves no chance
ratiopharm ulm made sure they go into 2024 in second place as they raced past SYNTAINICS MBC 107-75 on the road. Ulm took charge right away with a 33-19 first quarter and never looked back in staying in second place with a 10-3 record. SYNTAINICS MBC lost their third in a row for a 4-10 mark. Ulm held the home side to just 17.4 percent from long range and forced 19 turnovers. Trevion Williams was a force for Ulm with 22 points and 11 rebounds while 18-year-old Pacome Dadiet collected 17 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists and Karim Jallow had 16 points. Johnathan Stove paced the hosts with 20 points and John Bryant added a season-high 15 points.
Bonn finish glorious 2023 year with home win over Bamberg
Telekom Baskets Bonn finished off its glorious 2023 calendar year with an 88-74 home victory over Bamberg Baskets. The year saw Bonn win the Basketball Champions League as well as taking the regular season of the easyCredit BBL and reaching the BBL finals. Against Bamberg, Bonn jumped ahead by 13 points in the first quarter and were never really challenged the rest of the way. The hosts moved to 9-6 after having lost four of their last five games while Bamberg fell to 5-9. Bonn dominated the offensive rebounds category 17-9, leading to a 24-7 advantage in second chance points. Brian Fobbs paced six Bonn players in double figures with 18 points off the bench with Christian Sengfelder scoring 13 points and Glynn Watson chipping in 12 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists. Zach Copeland tallied 27 points in a losing effort.
Vechta rally in fourth to beat Rostock in overtime at home
RASTA Vechta rallied from a double digit fourth quarter deficit to knock off ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES 85-81 in overtime to remain strong at home and snap the guests’ three-game winning streak. Rostock built a 12-point lead in the second quarter and after nearly losing it all took a 15-point cushion midway through the third quarter and led by 12 points in the final frame. But Vechta went on a 14-3 run to even the game and twice took the lead in the final minute. The game went to overtime and Vechta’s defense held strong, giving up just one point in the final 3 minutes to move to 9-5 and 6-2 at home with Rostock dropping to 6-7. Vechta shot 68.4 percent on two-pointers compared to just 42.6 percent for Rostock. Richmond Aririguzoh had by far his best game with 21 points to go with 6 rebounds and 5 blocks for Vechta. Tommy Kuhse added 14 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists and Wes Iwundu chipped in 11 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Tyler Nelson came off the bench and scored 17 points and Derrick Alston collected 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in the loss.
Hamburg finish strong in road win over Crailsheim
Veolia Towers Hamburg finished the year with a hard-fought 89-84 victory at HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim in which they used a late run to put the win away. Hamburg stormed away to a 13-point lead after 10 minutes but found themselves behind early in the second half, which ended up going back and fourth. Hamburg scored 11 straight points in the final 2 minutes to come back for their third win in the last four games for an 8-5 record and dropping Crailsheim to 2-12 after four losses in a row. Hamburg made 32 of 42 free throws compared to 19 of 26 for Crailsheim and also shot 60.0 percent on two-pointers. Aljami Durham was Hamburg’s leading scorer with 24 points while Will Christmas had 14 points and 8 rebounds and Seth Hinrichs added 11 points and 10 rebounds. Galin Smith led Crailsheim with 18 points, Brandon Childress had 16 points and Maurice Stuckey collected 12 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists.
Braunschweig put on offensive fireworks in blowout of Göttingen
Basketball Löwen Braunschweig finished 2023 with some early fireworks as they put on an offensive display in blowing out BG Göttingen 110-82. Braunschweig pulled away late in the third quarter and won their third game in the last four for a 6-8 record. Göttingen for their part fell to 3-9 after having won in Round 13 in overtime against MLP Academics Heidelberg. Braunschweig shot 63.5 percent for the game including a blistering hot 60.9 percent from long range and out-scored Göttingen 18-0 on fast break points. TJ Crockett came off the bench with 5 three-pointers for 28 points with Martin Peterka scoring 22 points and Barra Nije and Ahmaad Rorie combining for 16 points and 17 assists. Umoja Gibson scored 26 points and Bodie Hume added 22 points in the loss.
Ludwigsburg use 13-0 fourth quarter run to get past Tübingen
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg mounted a 13-0 fourth quarter run to finish 2023 with a 104-94 victory at home over Tigers Tübingen. The guests lost a 10-point first quarter lead and watched Ludwigsburg build a 12-point cushion in the third quarter. Tübingen wiped out that deficit and went ahead in the fourth quarter only to see Ludwigsburg go on a 13-0 run to take control. Ludwigsburg have now won two games at home after two losses for a 9-5 record and Tübingen are 4-10 after losing four of five games. Ludwigsburg out-scored Tübingen 21-4 on fast break points. Desure Buie collected a double-double of 22 points and 10 assists with Silas Melson coming off the bench with 18 points and Jonathan Bähre added 14 points and 6 rebounds. Jhivvan Jackson was on fire from long range with 8 three-pointers and finished with 32 points and Mateo Seric added 19 points in the loss.
Bayern blowout Heidelberg to extend win streak to five games
Two streaks continued after FC Bayern Munich’s dominant 83-57 win over MLP Academics Heidelberg at home as the hosts have now won five games in a row and Heidelberg lost their sixth straight. Bayern didn’t waste long to take control of the game with a 24-7 first quarter and cruised to improve to 9-3 with Heidelberg falling to a 2-12 mark. Bayern shot 60.6 percent on two-pointers and held Heidelberg to just 28.8 percent for the game, including 30.3 percent on two-pointers. Nelson Weidemann came off the bench to lead Bayern with season highs of 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists with Danko Brankovic scoring 13 points and Carsen Edwards adding 12 points. Josh Gray paced Heidelberg with 14 points.
Heidelberg add wing Kigab, a hero of Canada’s 2017 U19 World Cup champs
MLP Academics Heidelberg have added a FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup champion as they signed Abu Kigab until the end of the season. The 25-year-old, who helped Canada famously win the U19 crown in 2017 alongside RJ Barrett, arrived from Slovakian side Spisski Rytieri.
Player of the Week
The Player of the Week for Round 14 goes to TJ Crockett of Basketball Löwen Braunschweig, who had a great game in his team’s win over BG Göttingen. The point guard came off the bench and scored 28 points on 10-of-13 shots including 5-of-6 three-pointers and 3-of-3 free throws and added 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block with 0 turnovers in 24 minutes for an efficiency of 31.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Nelson Weidemann, FC Bayern Munich
Weidemann registered season highs of 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists while making 4-of-4 three-pointers and grabbing 1 steal off the bench in a blowout win over MLP Academics Heidelberg.
F: Maurice Stuckey, HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim
Stuckey collected 12 points with 3 three-pointers, 4 rebounds, a career-high 7 assists, 2 steals and 1 block against Veolia Towers Hamburg.
F: Collin Welp, Würzburg Baskets
Welp continued his great form as he scored 14 points to go with 3 rebounds and 3 assists in a win over EWE Baskets Oldenburg.
F: Johannes Thiemann, ALBA BERLIN
Thiemann was an unstoppable force for Berlin against NINERS Chemnitz with 17 points on 11-of-12 free throws to go with 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
C: Kevin Yebo, NINERS Chemnitz
Yebo played a strong game against ALBA BERLIN with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block.
Young Guns
Leo Schoormann, 21, SG, EWE Baskets Oldenburg
Schoormann scored 14 points on 4-of-9 shots (1/5 threes) and 4-of-4 free throws to go with 1 rebound, 3 assists and 1 steal in 25:49 minutes off the bench against Würzburg Baskets.
Tobias Jensen, 19, SG, ratiopharm ulm
Jensen scored 4 points on 2-of-4 shots (0/1 threes) and had 1 rebound, 1 assist and 2 steals in 14:10 minutes against SYNTAINICS MBC. He then had 9 points on 3-of-4 shots (1/2 threes) and 2-of-2 free throws, 2 rebounds and 1 steal against Basketball Löwen Braunschweig.
Ivan Kharchenkov, 17, SG, FC Bayern Munich
Kharchenkov played 11:21 minutes against MLP Academics Heidelberg and scored 5 points on 2-of-2 shots and 1-of-2 free throws and had 1 steal and 1 block.
Germans Abroad
Johannes Voigtmann was the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP for Round 17 as he collected 19 points with 3 three-pointers, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal against Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz. For the season, the German big man is averaging 9.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
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