There were a lot of big stories this week in the easyCredit BBL and none was bigger than promoted side RASTA Vechta knocking off reigning champions ratiopharm ulm on the road with Joschka Ferner’s three-pointer at the buzzer of regulation forcing overtime. MLP Academics Heidelberg meanwhile hired veteran Ingo Freyer as their new head coach and the team immediately snapped their seven-game losing streak. ALBA BERLIN for their part brought back former champion Martin Hermannsson and then ended the seven-game winning streak of Würzburg Baskets.
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:
Vechta win thriller at Ulm after Ferner three-pointer forces OT
Last season’s ProA champions RASTA Vechta surprised last season’s easyCredit BBL champions ratiopharm ulm 106-102 in an overtime thriller on the road thanks to Joschka Ferner’s buzzer beater to end regulation. The game was tight throughout with Vechta leading for the entire second half until Georginho de Paula’s three-pointer to give Ulm the lead with 1.3 seconds left. But Joschka Ferner drained a corner three-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime, where Wes Iwundu converted a big four-point play, Spencer Reaves hit a big three-pointer and Joel Aminu made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 19 seconds to get the win. Vechta jumped to 11-5 with their fifth road victory while Ulm saw their four-game winning streak end for a 12-4 record to drop to third place. Vechta shot 56.4 percent on two-pointers and committed only 12 turnovers. Tommy Kuhse was Vechta’s leading scorer with 21 points to go with 5 rebounds and 4 assists while Aminu finished with 20 points with 6 rebounds and 3 steals and Ferner added 19 points with 5 three-pointers. LJ Figueroa and de Paula both scored 22 points for Ulm and Trevion Williams tallied 13 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists.
Six players enough as Heidelberg snap losing skid in Freyer debut
MLP Academics Heidelberg snapped a seven-game losing streak by knocking off Basketball Löwen Braunschweig 84-83 in the coaching debut of Ingo Freyer, who finished the game with only 6 players. Heidelberg pulled away in the second quarter and built a 17-point lead and were still leading by 11 points with about 9 minutes left. Braunschweig charged back with a 14-2 run and the final 78 seconds saw 4 lead changes finished with Abu Kigab’s game-winning layup with 6.3 seconds to play. Heidelberg improved to 3-13 with all three wins on the road and Braunschweig fell to 6-11 with their fifth loss in the last six games. Braunschweig shot just 25.0 percent from long range and Heidelberg made 7 more free throws. Kigab finished with 19 points to lead the winners with Marcel Kessen adding career highs of 17 points and 8 rebounds, Isaiah Whaley tallying 16 points and Akeem Vargas and Bennet Hundt combining for 21 points, 5 rebounds, 13 assists, 4 steals and 1 block. Ahmaad Rorie scored 17 points for Braunschweig while Ferdinand Zylka and Brandon Tischer both scored 12 points and Sananda Fru added 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Heidelberg hope new coach Ingo Freyer can avoid relegation again
MLP Academics Heidelberg have handed the head coaching reins to Ingo Freyer with the hopes that the 52-year-old playcaller can once again save a team from relegation. Freyer takes over the last placed Heidelberg team, which fired Joonas Iisalo after losing a seventh straight game for a 2-13 record following a 113-76 home loss to RASTA Vechta. Freyer is taking over a relegation threatened team for the third straight season. In 2022, he was named new coach at SYNTAINICS MBC after the team lost seven straight games and helped the team stave off relegation. Last season, EWE Oldenburg dropped eight straight games and then brought in Freyer and he guided the team to 12 wins in 18 games.
Buoyed by EuroLeague road win, Berlin snap Würzburg’s win streak
ALBA BERLIN used the momentum of their first road victory in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and registered a 90-82 home victory over Würzburg Baskets, who saw their seven-game winning streak end. Berlin were up just two points early in the second half and led by 13 points after three quarters to move to 9-4 with a third win in the last four games. Würzburg still have not beaten Berlin in eight years and dropped to 10-5. Berlin shot 58.0 percent for the game and held Würzburg to 38.6 percent shooting to make up for 22 turnovers. Stephon Brown paced Berlin with 17 points followed by Gabriele Procida’s 16 points and Matt Thomas had 13 points. Johannes Thiemann pitched in 11 points and 5 rebounds to become the 36th player in the digital era (since 1998) with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his easyCredit BBL career. New addition Martin Hermannsson did not dress for the game. Javon Bess scored 21 points and Otis Livingston added 13 points and 9 assists in a losing effort.
Hermannsson returns to Berlin until 2026
ALBA BERLIN made their first addition of the season as they added some much needed experience to their backcourt by bringing back Martin Hermannsson on a contract until the end of the 2025-26 season. Hermannsson played for Berlin from 2018 to 2020 and helped the club win the league and cup double in his second season. Hermannsson in 2020 moved to Valencia Basket, with whom he played 7 games this season.
ALBA part ways with Eriksson after two years of injuries
ALBA BERLIN finally gave up on a return of Marcus Eriksson, releasing the Swedish shooter who has not played in two years due to injuries. The 30-year-old Eriksson last played on January 2, 2022 and missed the last two years with foot and knee injuries. Eriksson, who joined Berlin in 2019 and played 138 games with the club, will work on his rehab in Sweden.
Bayern blow out Bamberg, jump to second place with seventh straight win
FC Bayern Munich breezed by Bamberg Baskets 91-69 at home to extend their winning streak to seven games and jump into second place in the league. Bayern had a 17-point lead in the second quarter but watched as Bamberg got within 3 points late in the third quarter. Then Bayer went on an 18-4 run to start the fourth quarter to move to 11-3 and drop Bamberg to 6-10 with four losses in the last five games. Bayern shot 53.7 percent for the game including 71.4 percent on two-pointers and committed only 10 turnovers. Sylvain Francisco was Bayern’s top scorer with 17 points and Carsen Edwards and Serge Ibaka both had 16 points. Kevin Wohlrath led Bamberg in scoring with 14 points and EJ Onu had 13 points and 7 rebounds as the team’s starters combined for 32 points.
Oldenburg finally win at home again, ease past Göttingen
EWE Baskets Oldenburg finally won at home again as they rolled by BG Göttingen 106-85 to snap a five-game losing streak in front of their home fans since late October. Oldenburg raced away with a 32-17 lead after 10 minutes and never looked back for a 7-9 record to snap a three-game losing streak after having lost eight of the last nine. Göttingen lost their third straight for a 3-11 record. Oldenburg shot 52.9 percent from the field including 51.9 percent on three-pointers with 27 assists. DeWayne Russell collected 22 points and 6 assists, Geno Crandall picked up 15 points and 14 assists, Kenneth Ogbe scored 15 points and Norris Agbakoko and Lukas Wank both had 14 points. Bodie Hume scored 26 points for Göttingen and Zach Ensminger added 15 points and 5 assists.
Chemnitz best Bonn, Kennedy to remain league leaders
NINERS Chemnitz cooled down a hot Telekom Baskets Bonn 85-78 on the road to remain atop the league. The game was tight for about 25 minutes until Chemnitz grabbed control and were up by nine points after three quarters. Chemnitz moved to 14-2 and dropped Bonn to 10-7 after having had won three of their last four games. Bonn shot just 22.9 percent from long range compared to 40.9 percent for the winners. Aher Uguak paced Chemnitz with 22 points with Jeff Garrett picking up 18 points and Tylor Ongwae adding 12 points. Thomas Kennedy had a monster game in the loss with 26 points and 15 rebounds and Brian Fobbs contributed 19 points.
Hamburg turn it on in third quarter to roll past Rostock
Veolia Towers Hamburg used a big start to the second half to roll past ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES 111-94 on the road to stay on their strong run. Rostock fell behind by 11 points in the first quarter but led by 10 points late in the second quarter. Hamburg went on a 24-0 run spanning the second and third quarters to roll to their third straight win and fifth in the last six for a 10-5 record. Rostock lost their third straight after three consecutive wins for a 6-9 mark. Hamburg shot a blistering hot 71.0 percent on two-pointers and committed only 9 turnovers. Aleksander Dziewa paced six Hamburg players in double figures with 22 points while Will Christmas had 18 points and 6 assists and VJ King had 15 points. Eric Lockett scored 19 points and Tyler Nelson tallied 18 points in the loss.
Wolves latest team to score big points on Tübingen
SYNTAINICS MBC became the latest team to score a lot of points against Tigers Tübingen with a 114-78 home victory to snap a four-game losing streak. The hosts dominated the game from the start and led 54-36 at halftime to improve to a 5-11 record. Tübingen fell to 4-12 after losing for the fourth straight time and fifth in the last six games - during which they have allowed an average of 101.2 points. SYNTAINICS shot 52.2 percent for the game and dominated the glass 45-23 including 17 offensive rebounds to 5 for Tübingen giving them advantages of 38-18 in points in the paint and 27-7 in second chance points. Johnathan Stove was the top scorer in the game with 25 points, Jhonathan Dunn picked up 20 points off the bench in his first game with the team and Martin Breunig chipped in 16 points and 12 rebounds in the victory. Jhivvan Jackson scored 23 points and Mateo Seric had 16 points in the loss.
Wolves get guard reinforcements with signing of Dunn
SYNTAINICS MBC reinforced their backcourt with the signing of Jhonathan Dunn until the end of the season. The 25-year-old shooting guard arrives from Mexican champions Fuerza Regia Monterrey and knows the easyCredit BBL having played last season with MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg. Dunn is expected to help the Wolves’ outside game as the club averaged 8.5 three-pointers per game with a league-worst 30.1 percent.
Ludwigsburg let loose on Crailsheim in Roberson return
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg registered the largest winning margin this season with a 106-59 home victory over HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim. The hosts jumped ahead 34-11 and never let Crailsheim close the rest of the way for a third win in the last four games and a 10-6 record. Crailsheim continue to struggle with a 3-13 mark after five losses in the last six games. Crailsheim shot just 31.7 percent for the game including just 12.5 percent from long range while also losing 18 turnovers. Jayvon Graves top-scored for Ludwigsburg with 19 points with Silas Melson scoring 13 points and 6 assists and Jonathan Bähre collecting 12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Jeff Roberson chipped in 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in his first game in nearly a year. James Murray-Boyles came off the Crailsheim bench to lead the team in scoring with 14 points.
Player of the Week
The top performance of Round 16 goes to Telekom Baskets Bonn center Thomas Kennedy, who put up an efficiency of 35 in a loss to NINERS Chemnitz for the Player of the Week honors. Kennedy scored 26 points on 10-of-12 shots and 6-of-11 free throws to go with 15 rebounds and 2 steals.
German Top Five of the Week
G: Joel Aminu, RASTA Vechta
Aminu played a major role in Vechta’s big win over ratiopharm ulm with 20 points on 3 three-pointers including big free throws in overtime to ice the game. He also had 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
F: Joschka Ferner, RASTA Vechta
Yep, two players from Vechta but it’s impossible to not include both Ferner and Joel Aminu in the upset of ratiopharm ulm. Ferner drained 5 three-pointers - including a corner triple at the buzzer to force overtime - in scoring 19 points to go along with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.
F: Jonathan Bähre, MHP REISEN Ludwigsburg
Bähre earned his spot with a great all-around game in a win over HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
C: Martin Breunig, SYNTAINICS MBC
Breunig collected his second double-double of the season in a win over Tigers Tübingen with 16 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
C: Marcel Kessen, MLP Academics Heidelberg
Kessen was forced into heavy minutes against Basketball Löwen Braunschweig due to a major rash of injuries, and the 27-year-old responded with career highs of 17 points and 8 rebounds.
Young Guns
Sananda Fru, 20, PF, Basketball Löwen Braunschweig
Fru started against MLP Academics Heidelberg and collected a double-double of 10 points on 4-of-5 shots (0/1 threes) and 2-of-2 free throws and a career high 11 rebounds. He also had 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks.
Johann Grünloh, 18, C, RASTA Vechta
Grünloh came off the bench and picked up 11 points on 3-of-4 shots and 5-of-6 free throws, 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block in 22:04 minutes in Vechta’s win over ratiopharm ulm.
Jacob Patrick, 20, SG, MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg
Patrick scored a season-high 12 points on 4-of-9 three-pointers and had 1 steal in 16:07 minutes against HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim.
Germans Abroad
Usually this segment is for German players excelling outside the country but we move to the coaching ranks this week as Henrik Rödl has taken over as the national team head coach of the Egypt national team. The 54-year-old takes over from Canadian Ray Rana, who helped the northern Africans qualify for this summer’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Egypt will face hosts Greece and Dominican Republic in the OQT with Slovenia, Croatia and New Zealand in the other group. Only the OQT winner qualifies for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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Nachberichte
106:102-Krimi mit Clutch-Würfen: Aufsteiger Vechta siegt beim Meister Ulm nach Verlängerung
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Ohne fünf Verletzte - Sechs Heidelberger siegen beim Debüt von Ingo Freyer in Braunschweig
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