– David Hein
The early season surprise continues to be a surprise as HAKRO Merlins Crails-heim remained undefeated in the league with a road victory over SYNTAINICS MBC. The week saw another surprise as JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers picked up their first win of the season in upsetting EWE Baskets Oldenburg. There was one personnel move as ratiopharm ulm brought in some temporary help after an injury to their backcourt.
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:
Crailsheim still perfect after fending off MBC on road
HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim remained one of only three undefeated teams in the league by winning at SYNTAINICS MBC 95-87. Crailsheim built a 16-point lead in the second quarter and fended off the home side in the final frame to move to 5-0 - the same mark as FC Bayern Munich while ALBA BERLIN are 4-0. MBC, who fell to 1-4, nailed 51.7 percent from three-point range but connected on just 47.1 percent on two-pointers and Crailsheim turned it over only 12 times and made 62.2 percent on twos. Quincy Ford was Crailsheim’s biggest weapon with 20 points on 4 three-pointers, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal while Jeremy Morgan also came off the bench to score 19 points. Sebastian Herrera had 12 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in the win while Aaron Jones tallied 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists and Jan Span chipped in 10 points and 9 assists. MBC wasted a strong performance from Strahinja Micovic, who had 25 points and 8 rebounds, while Ferdinand Zylka nailed 5 three-pointers in scoring 17 points and Jovan Novak added 9 points, 4 rebounds and 11 assists in the defeat.
Giessen surprise Oldenburg for first win of season
JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers picked up their first victory of the season and it was a bit of a surprise in defeating EWE Baskets Oldenburg 83-68 at home. Giessen had a strong start and pulled away in the second quarter with a 53-34 lead at intermission to move to 1-3. Oldenburg have now lost two straight in dropping to 3-2. Giessen connected on 69.7 percent of their two-point shots and had 23 assists while Oldenburg hit only 38.5 percent including a dismal 3-of-18 for 16.7 percent on three-pointers. Brandon Thomas paced Giessen with 16 points and 3 assists, Alen Pjanic had 13 points, Stephen Brown collected 11 points and 6 assists and John Bryant chipped in 9 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block. Gerry Blakes paced Oldenburg with 13 points and 2 steals and fellow reserve Kevin McClain had 12 points. Rasid Mahalbasic was strong with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists as the only Oldenburg starter in double figures as the losers’ first five combined for only 25 points.
Bayern hold on to win at Würzburg, remain undefeated
FC Bayern Munich stayed perfect in the league in holding on for a 90-82 victory at s.Oliver Würzburg. Bayern took control and led by 18 points in the fourth quarter until the hosts made things interesting with a 22-8 run thanks to four three-pointers to make it 86-82 with 11 seconds left. Skyler Bowlin was charged with an unsportsmanlike foul and Vladimir Lucic and Nihad Djedovic both hit two free throws to finish off the game and move to 5-0. Würzburg, who turned the ball over only eight times but lost the rebound battle 35-25, dropped to 2-3 with a second straight loss. Greg Monroe paced Bayern with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal and Paul Zipser had 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Cameron Wells was Würzburg’s top weapon with 17 points and 7 assists while Victor Rudd had 13 points and 5 rebounds and Felix Koch scored 12 points.
Frankfurt take second straight win, Ulm still reeling
FRAPORT SKYLINERS have won two straight games after picking up a 78-72 victory at ratiopharm ulm. Frankfurt used an 11-4 run in the fourth quarter to gain control of the game and they prevailed for a 2-3 record. Ulm have now lost three in a row for a 1-3 mark. Frankfurt forced 15 turnovers while committing only 12 themselves. Lamont Jones was too much for Frankfurt with 23 points, 7 assists and 2 steals while Leon Kratzer collected 13 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block and Akeem Vargas and Shaquille Hines both scored 11 points. Zoran Dragic paced Ulm with 23 points and 10 rebounds while Grant Jerrett had 13 points and 5 rebounds and Isaiah Briscoe debuted with 12 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Ulm add tough defender Briscoe to fill in for Harvey
ratiopharm ulm reacted to the injury to Tyler Harvey by signing Isaiah Briscoe to a short-term deal. The 23-year-old Briscoe, who has made a name for himself as a tough defender, comes to Ulm with 39 games of experience in the NBA after a collegiate career with the University of Kentucky.
Bamberg bounce back from BCL loss for big win in Hamburg
Brose Bamberg bounced back from a second straight bad loss in the Basketball Champions League in winning comfortably 89-59 at promoted Hamburg Towers. Bamberg, who lost 73-58 at home to Nizhny Novgorod in the BCL, took control of the game with a 28-16 second quarter to move to 4-1 with Hamburg falling to 1-4. Bamberg’s starters only scored 32 points with the team’s top two scorers both coming off the bench. Assem Marei had a nice double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Michael Carrera added 13 points and 7 rebounds. Bamberg shot 56.7 percent for the game while holding Hamburg to just 40.0 percent shooting, including a dismal 3-of-21 or 14.3 percent on three-pointers in adding to Bamberg winning the rebound battle 41-24. Heiko Schaffartzik was Hamburg’s only player in double figures scoring with 15 points and 3 assists in his 400th game in the easyCredit BBL.
Ludwigsburg grab road victory, keep Göttingen winless
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg kept pace with the top teams of the league by grabbing an 83-79 victory at BG Göttingen. Göttingen led in the third quarter until Ludwigsburg went on a 25-8 run spanning the final two frames to lock up the win and a 4-1 record. Göttingen remained winless with a 0-5 record. Ludwigsburg turned the ball over just 10 times and made 21-of-24 free throws compared to 13-of-16 foul shots for Göttingen, who shot only 40.6 percent for the game. Marcus Knight collected 19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals to lead Ludwigsburg while Khadeen Carrington scored 17 points, Thomas Wimbush had 14 points and Nick Weiler-Babb chipped in 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Bennet Hudt paced Göttingen with a career high 25 points with 4 three-pointers while Dominik Lockhart had 10 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists and Terry Allen tallied 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks.
Player of the Week
Strahinja Micovic takes Player of the Week honors this week despite his SNYTAINICS MBC losing to HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim Micovic scored 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting including 3-of-5 three-pointers and 4-of-4 free throws to go with 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and just 1 turnover for an efficiency of 31.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Bennett Hundt, BG Göttingen
Hundt continues to play at a high level for Göttingen but cannot lead his team to a win as he scored a career high 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting including 4-of-7 three-pointers and 7-of-7 free throws, 1 rebound and 1 assists against MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg.
G: Heiko Schaffartzik, Hamburg Towers
Schaffartzik stood out in his 400th game in the league as Hamburg’s only player in double figures with 15 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists and 1 steal.
G: Ferdinand Zylka, SYNTAINICS MBC
Zylka had a career game against HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim - albeit in a loss. The 21-year-old started the game and scored a career high 17 points with career highs in three-pointers attempted (9) and made (5), rebounds (3) as well as steals (2) and minutes played (27:56) in his 34th career game.
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F: Paul Zipser, FC Bayern Munich
Zipser was strong for Bayern in their win over s.Oliver Würzburg with 13 points 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
C: Leon Kratzer, FRAPORT SKYLINERS
The big man helped Frankfurt get the win over ratiopharm ulm with 13 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. It was the 22-year-old’s second double-double of the season.
Young Guns
Bjarne Kraushaar, 20, PG, JobStairs GIESSEN 46ers
Kraushaar played a big role in Giessen getting their first win of the season with 7 points on 2-of-3 shooting and 3-of-4 free throws to go with 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal in 18:53 minutes against EWE Baskets Oldenburg.
Justus Hollatz, 18, PG, Hamburg Towers
Hollatz picked up career highs of 7 points and 5 assists in a career-high 21:18 minutes against Brose Bamberg. The 18-year-old made 3-of-6 shots, including 1-of-3 three-pointers and also added 1 steal.
Nelson Weidemann, 20, PG, Brose Bamberg
Weidemann started against Hamburg Towers and had career highs of 7 points and 3 assists in 16:05 minutes. The 20-year-old made 3-of-4 shots with 1-of-2 three-pointers.
Germans Abroad
This past off-season Robin Benzing moved back to Spain after one season in each Germany and Turkey, returning to Zaragoza, where he played from 2015 to 2017. The German national team captain came through for Zagagoza with 15 points and 3 rebounds in the team’s big victory over FC Barcelona Lassa (Highlights).
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— easyCredit BBL (@easyCreditBBL) October 27, 2019
