MLP Academics Heidelberg took a major step towards the play-ins as they picked up an impressive 102-85 road victory over the league’s hottest team FIT/One Würzburg Baskets to snap a four-game losing streak. Heidelberg pulled away between the third and fourth quarters to improve to 17-14. DJ Horne scored 28 points to lead the guests and Ryan Mikesell added 16 points and 7 assists. Würzburg had won six in a row and could have locked up home court advantage, but they could not get a victory on the day when Jhivvan Jackson was announced as the league’s Most Valuable Player. Jackson did score 25 points in the losing effort.
Game Summary: Heidelberg used the three-ball to pull away early on with four different players hitting from long range and Würzburg went almost 4 minutes without a basket to fall behind 23-11. Two scores from Marcel Keßen pushed the guests ahead 27-13 and the lead was 29-15 after 10 minutes. Heidelberg still led 32-19 when Nelson Phillips sparked the hosts with seven points in getting the deficit to 37-31. Würzburg did not score a basket for nearly 4 minutes and could not get closer and trailed 47-40 at halftime.
Heidelberg knocked down two triples early in the second half for a game-high 15-point lead 55-40. DJ Horne continued his outstanding game with five more points and the cushion was 16 points, 62-46. Würzburg punched back with the next six points but Ryan Mikesell tallied seven points at the other end and Heidelberg were up 76-59. And the score was 81-65 after 30 minutes. The cushion grew to 22 points 89-67 early in the final frame before Würzburg made a final push to try and make things interesting with 11 straight points and a Jhivvan Jackson triple made it 91-81. But Heidelberg did not led the hosts get closer the rest of the game.
Numbers Please: Heidelberg shot a blistering 62% for the game from the field including 77% on two-pointers while Würzburg made just 38% of their shots.
Player of the Game: DJ Horne came into the game struggling, having averaged 7.8 points the last five games and just 14 total points in the last three games. The guard had made just 12 of 51 shots - 26% - in the last five games. It's safe to say that Horne is out of his slump as he hit 11 of 21 shots including 5 three-pointers in scoring a career-high 28 points. He also had 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block for an efficiency of 28.
The Germans: Marcel Keßen has been great in place of the injured Osun Osunniyi with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist - after scoring 14 points in his last game. Mateo Seric added 12 points and 3 rebounds for the winners. At the other end, Hannes Steinbach had 6 points and 5 rebounds.
Zipser joins 1,500-point club: Paul Zipser drained a three-pointer early in the second half for his only points of the game, but they were enough to give him 1,500 points in his Bundesliga career. The veteran added 5 rebounds and 1 steal in the win.
Jhivvan Jackson - freshly crowned MVP and Offensive Player of the Year: It was a pretty thrilling buildup to the game for Jhivvan Jackson. On Tuesday May 6, it was announced that the Würzburg guard was named as the Offensive Player of the Year. And then before the game, there was a video message from the United States with Jackson's family members saying how proud they are of him being named the leauge MVP. Jackson received 36.1% of the MVP votes with FC Bayern Munich's Carsen Edwards finishing second at 15.3% and Heidelberg's Ryan Mikesell taking third at 13.9%. Jackson was given 44.4% of the vote for Offensive Player of the Year, finishing ahead of Justin Jaworski of EWE Baskets Oldenburg (18.1%) and Bayern's star Edwards (11.1%).
What's Up Next: Würzburg have a tough final game as they play at Basketball Löwen Braunschweig. Heidelberg’s final game will be at home against SKYLINERS on Sunday May 11.
Video: Highlights of this game will be available soon on Dyn's website or here on Dyn's YouTube channel.
Anmerkung: In der Saison 2024/25 werden wie hier auch gelegentlich Nachberichte in englischer Sprache verfasst.
Note: During the 2024-25 season, there will occasionally be game reports published in English.
