The new city record of 12,000 fans who came out to the Barclays Arena in Hamburg saw a great game as FC Bayern Munich downed hosts Veolia Towers Hamburg in an overtime thriller. The week also saw HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim show signs of life in their fight against relegation and ALBA BERLIN down NINERS Chemnitz. There was also a ceremony in Frankfurt where FRAPORT SKYLINERS retired the No. 23 jersey of former legend Quantez Robertson.
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:
Hamburg set city attendance record to celebrate 10th anniversary
The Veolia Towers Hamburg home game against FC Bayern Munich set a new city attendance record as 12,000 fans came out to Barclays Arena in Hamburg to celebrate 10 years of basketball for Towers. The previous record for the northern German city was 10,925 fans who saw the German national team with Dirk Nowitzki in 2006.
Bayern fight past Hamburg in OT, reclaim lead in standings
FC Bayern Munich reclaimed the lead in the easyCredit BBL standings as they fought past Veolia Towers Hamburg 81-80 in an overtime thriller. The whole game was close with 10 points being the biggest lead just once in the fourth quarter and there being 12 lead changes and 9 ties. Bayern were up nine points with 2 minutes to go, but VJ King converted a four-point play, William Christmas hit a triple and Brae Ivey drained a three-pointer of his own with 5.8 seconds left to send the game to overtime. King scored the first five points of the extra session and Leif Möller’s jumper made it 80-78 with 1:19 minutes to go. Sylvain Francisco answered with a three-point play with 70 seconds left which ended up being the final score with Serge Ibaka blocking Aljami Durham’s shot with 6 seconds remaining to save the game. Bayern moved to 20-4 and Hamburg lost their third game in the last four for a 12-11 mark. Bayern shot 66.7 percent on two-pointers and held Hamburg to just 39.0 percent on twos. Isaac Bonga and Elias Harris both scored 14 points and Nick Weiler-Babb had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. Christmas was Hamburg’s top scorer with 18 points and King had 17 points in the defeat.
Berlin keep on winning, down Chemnitz on road for 7th straight victory
ALBA BERLIN just keep wining as they downed standings leaders NINERS Chemnitz 84-79 on the road for their seventh straight win. Chemnitz led for much of the first 12 minutes but Berlin took the led in the second quarter and never gave it back. Chemnitz tied the game in the fourth quarter put Berlin answered with an 8-0 run and made 4-of-4 free throws in the final 18 seconds for a 17-5 record for ALBA and a 20-5 mark for Chemnitz, who had won three straight games but now have fallen to second place in the league behind FC Bayern Munich. Berlin held Chemnitz to just 40.3 percent shooting and made 61.1 percent on two-pointers. Sterling Brown led Berlin in scoring with 18 points, Martin Hermannsson had 13 points and 5 assists and Johannes Thiemann added 10 points. Jeff Garrett had 15 points and Kevin Yebo picked up 14 points in a losing effort.
Crailsheim show sign of life, beat Göttingen to snap five-game skid
HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim showed a sign of life in their fight against relegation as they defeated BG Göttingen 80-76 at home to snap a five-game losing streak. Crailsheim were up 10 points in the first and second quarters but the rest of the game was tight. The guests were up six points with 6 minutes to go but Crailsheim mounted a 15-3 rally and grabbed the win, snapping the losing skid and moving to 5-20. Göttingen dropped their fourth straight and are now at 7-18 - still enthralled in the relegation fight. Göttingen were held to 39.7 percent shooting including 37.9 percent on two-pointers. Keandre Cook registered a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds off the bench while James Murray-Boyles had 12 points and 6 rebounds and Leo Westermann had 12 points and 5 assists. David DeJulius led Göttingen with 16 points.
Göttingen give Foucart vote of confidence, extend until 2025
BG Göttingen have not yet locked up their spot back in the easyCredit BBL for next season but the club showed they are satisfied with the work of first year head coach Olivier Foucart and extended with the Belgian for one season until 2025. The 39-year-old had served two seasons as assistant coach to Roel Moors before taking over this off-season when Moors left to Telekom Baskets Bonn. BG Göttingen are currently 7-18 in the league in 14th place - four wins from the play-ins spots and two victories ahead of the last team in the relegation ranks.
Ulm beat Würzburg for third time this season, end Würzburg win streak
ratiopharm ulm once again proved to be Würzburg Baskets’ kryptonite as the reigning champs beat the upstart team a third time this season with an 87-79 victory to end Würzburg’s six-game win streak. Ulm built an 11-point lead in the first quarter but trailed briefly at the end of the first half. The hosts took control of the game with a 22-9 third quarter to move to 16-9 and Würzburg fell to 18-7. Ulm shot 47.7 percent for the game and 65.5 percent on two-pointers while Würzburg hit just 39.7 percent of their shots. Justinian Jessup poured in 27 points and 6 rebounds in his second game with Ulm, LJ Figueroa had 15 points, Karim Jallow added 11 points and Trevon Williams tallied a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Otis Livingston and Zac Seljaas both scored 17 points and Max Ugrai and Javon Bess both had 14 points in the loss.
Vechta gain ground in fight for home court advantage
RASTA Vechta might just go from promotion to home court advantage in the playoffs as they mounted the pressure on the top four with a 92-79 win at Basketball Löwen Braunschweig for their third straight victory. After a tight first half, Vechta blew the game open with a 19-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters. Vechta are now 17-8 - just one win behind fourth placed Würzburg - while Braunschweig fell to 11-14 outside of the play-in spots with a three-game losing streak after having won five straight. Vechta shot 52.4 percent from the field and built a 19-9 advantage on second chance points. Tommy Kuhse collected 16 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals and Joel Aminu and Tanner Groves both added 14 points. Jilson Bango paced Braunschweig with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks and Martin Peterka had 12 points.
Bamberg rally past Rostock in OT, still close to play-in spots
Brose Bamberg rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES 98-91 in overtime on the road to stay alive in the race for the final play-in spot while Rostock have lost 12 straight games. Rostock started on fire with a 17-point lead in the first quarter and remained ahead until midway through the fourth quarter and Bamberg were ahead by six points with only 58 seconds to go. Eric Lockett and Tyler Nelson hit three-pointers - Nelson’s with 4.0 seconds left - to send the game in overtime. In the extra session, Zach Copeland drained back-to-back three-pointers and Malik Johnson scored eight points including a triple of his own to give Bamberg the win. Bamberg improved to 11-14 with four wins in five league games under Coach Arne Woltmann and Rostock’s freefall has them at 6-18. Bamberg survived despite making just 11-of-20 free throws and getting out-scored 21-8 in fast break points but Bamberg’s bench contributed 35 points to just 10 for Rostock. Copeland finished with a game-high 25 points and 5 assists, Trey Woodbury had 14 points, Johnson ended the game with 13 points and 6 assists and Filip Stanic tallied 6 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in the win. Chevez Goodwin and Derrick Alston both scored 23 points and combined for 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks; Tyler Nelson added 19 points; and Eric Lockett chipped in a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds but they were not enough.
Ludwigsburg race past Tübingen, stay in final playoffs spot
RAMHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg remained on the final playoffs spot as they raced past Tigers Tübingen 98-79 on the road. Ludwigsburg took the second quarter 30-16 and then pulled away even further with a 29-15 third quarter. Ludwigsburg won their third game in the last four for a 16-9 record and Tübingen remain in relegation danger with a 6-19 record after a 1-6 record in the last seven games. Ludwigsburg shot 56.1 percent to 46.7 for Tübingen including 72.2 percent on two-pointers plus they scored 17 second chance points to just 4 for the hosts. Jayvon Graves paced Ludwigsburg with 20 points and 6 assists, Jeff Roberson had 16 points and 5 rebounds and Jonathan Bähre added 15 points and 5 rebounds. Jhivvan Jackson came off the bench to lead Tübingen in scoring with 17 points as the starting five totaled only 31 points.
Tübingen will lose GM Maus after season
Tigers Tübingen will need a new general manager starting this off-season as current office holder Jascha Maus will not renew his contract at season’s end. The 28-year-old Maus has served the club the last five years including the last two years as GM.
Guard Darko-Kelly will leave Tübingen by end of month
There was more news for Tigers Tübingen as the team and Zaccheus Darko-Kelly agreed to part ways and the guard will leave the club by April 1 to move to New Zealand club Otago Nuggets. The 26-year-old American came to Tübingen in the off-season after having suffered an injury last season in Greece and not being able to finish the season.
Oldenburg jump into play-in spot, Heidelberg return to loss column
EWE Baskets Oldenburg hope they have reversed their negative trend as they dominated MLP Academics Heidelberg 99-77 at home to move into the final spot in the play-ins. Oldenburg, who had lost four of their last five games, took complete control with a 26-10 second quarter and never looked back in moving to 11-13 and jumping to the last play-in spot. Heidelberg lost after having won two straight and are now 5-20 - still just one victory behind a non-relegation spot. Oldenburg forced 20 Heidelberg turnovers and held them to 39.1 percent shooting. Chaundee Brown led Oldenburg with 20 points, Geno Grandall had 16 points and 9 assists, Brekkott Chapman scored 14 points and Alen Pjanic tallied 12 points - his first game scoring in double digits since his debut this season earlier this month. Justin Jaworski had 22 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in the loss.
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Player of the Week
Just two games into his easyCredit BBL career and Justinian Jessup already has picked up Player of the Week honors as the ratiopharm ulm guard was outstanding in the team’s win over Würzburg Baskets. Jessup scored 27 points on 10-of-14 shots and 3-of-3 free throws to go with 6 rebounds and 1 steal for an efficiency of 29.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Joel Aminu, RASTA Vechta
Aminu knocked down 4 three-pointers in scoring 14 points to go with 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 block in a win over Basketball Löwen Braunschweig.
F: Alen Pjanic, EWE Baskets Oldenburg
Pjanic was only playing his third game of the season after finally returning from a long-term injury and he collected 12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 blocks against MLP Academics Heidelberg.
F: Elias Harris, FC Bayern Munich
The 34-year-old Harris showed just how productive he can still be with 14 points - including going 8-of-8 from the line - and 5 rebounds in just 20 minutes against Veolia Towers Hamburg.
C: Filip Stanic, Bamberg Baskets
Stanic only scored 6 points but he also collected 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in a big win over ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES.
C: Jonathan Bähre, MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg
Bähre scored a career-high 15 points and also had 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block against Tigers Tübingen.
Young Guns
Johann Grünloh, 18, C, RASTA Vechta
Grünloh started against Basketball Löwen Braunschweig and collected 7 points on 3-of-5 shots and 1-of-1 free throws to go with 9 rebounds - 4 of them from the offensive glass in 19:54 minutes.
Jacob Patrick, 20, SG, MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg
Patrick scored 8 points on 3-of-4 shooting (2/3 threes) and grabbed 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in 18:28 minutes against Tigers Tübingen.
Gian Aydinoglu, 20, PG, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
Aydinoglu was very productive in his 9:23 minutes against RASTA Vechta with 3 points on 0-of-1 shots and 3-of-4 free throws and career highs of 3 assists and 3 steals.
Skyliners retire Quantez Robertson’s No. 23
The number 23 will never be worn again for FRAPORT SKYLINERS as the club retired the jersey of Quantez Robertson this week. The long-time legend Robertson becomes the second player to have his jersey hoisted to the rafters for Frankfurt following Pascal Roller. Robertson, who ended his career last May, played his entire 14-year career with Skyliners, helping the club win the FIBA Europe Cup in 2016. Robertson could not get Frankfurt a league title as they lost to Bamberg in the BBL Finals in his first season 2009-2010. Robertson played 479 Bundesliga games and collected 4,425 points, 2,217 rebounds and 742 steals.
Germans Abroad
German history was made in United Arab Emirates as ratiopharm ulm took the title at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament Dubai with star talent Noa Essengue winning Most Valuable Player of the U18 event. Ulm became the first German club to win an ANGT qualifier. Essengue was otherworldly in Ulm’s thrilling 89-84 overtime victory over Lithuania powers Zalgiris Kaunas, collecting 33 points, 18 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 4 blocks plus 16 fouls drawn for a performance index rating (the Euroleague equivalent to efficiency in the easyCredit BBL) of 54.
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