The Braunschweig Lions staged a late comeback against the Skyliners Frankfurt, while Ratiopharm Ulm and the Ludwigsburg Giants suffered bitter defeats in the battle for the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Towers Hamburg’s winning streak has come to an end.
Ulm with a weak performance in Vechta
Ulm wanted to catch up with the top teams in Vechta, but from the start, the Baden-Württemberg team lacked the necessary momentum. They got off to a bad start and were already trailing by double digits after the first ten minutes. While almost nothing went right for them offensively in the first half (37.5 FG%), the hosts played a really good game. They moved the ball superbly (13 assists) and shot well from the field (almost 60 percent), which is why they more or less maintained their lead at halftime (49:49). After the break, Ulm came back with noticeably more energy and cut the deficit to 3 points midway through the third quarter, but Vechta, led by the strong Tevin Brown (15 points), responded with an 11:2 run that restored their previous lead. Ulm made another run in the final quarter, but Vechta kept their cool and held on to their lead.
The visitors’ best player was star player Christopher Ledlum with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists. Mark Smith contributed another 13 points and 12 rebounds. In addition to Brown, national team player Tibor Pleiß also shone for Vechta with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Lions stage late comeback in Frankfurt
For three quarters, it looked as if Frankfurt would celebrate a comfortable home win against the bottom team in the table. As has often been the case in recent weeks, the Lions got off to a weak start: they shot poorly from the field, turned the ball over too often and found themselves trailing by double digits early on.
But then, in the final quarter, the game suddenly turned around. The Skyliners couldn’t get anything to fall on offense and committed unnecessary turnovers, while the Lions cut the deficit bit by bit. A three-pointer by Luka Scuka made it -4 with two minutes left on the clock, before Grant Sherfield tied the game with nine seconds left. The Skyliners then had a chance to win the game, but William Christmas’ (22 points) layup missed its target, sending the game into overtime. Frankfurt closed the gap to one point in the final seconds, but Braunschweig kept their cool at the line and Isaiah Swope’s long three-pointer missed the target by a clear margin. That sealed Braunschweig’s first win after seven consecutive defeats. Kaza Kajami-Keane and Sherfield contributed another 14 points. Jaedon Le Dee (14 points, 13 rebounds) was the best player for the hosts alongside Christmas. Swope scored 13 points.
Important victory for Ludwigsburg, Towers’ winning streak comes to an end
Oldenburg laid the foundation for their clear victory with an outstanding first half. They came out of the gates firing on all cylinders and dominated offensively at will. They shot over 60 percent from the field and nearly 54 percent from beyond the arc, giving them a comfortable 14-point lead after 20 minutes. The outstanding Tomislav Zubcic and Nicholas Tischler were responsible for almost half of Oldenburg’s 56 points (27) at that point. After the break, the home team extended its lead even further, deciding the game before the final quarter. Zubcic was the top scorer with 25 points, and four other Oldenburg players also scored in double figures. For LuBu, Babacar Sane was the only player in normal form with 23 points, while the rest disappointed. A three-pointer by Devon Daniels (15 points) gave them their first lead since the final minutes in the middle of the final quarter.
The game remained close for a long time, until the Baskets took a +5 lead with 60 seconds left on the clock thanks to a difficult layup by Grayson Murphy, which sealed the deal.
With eleven points and eight assists, Murphy was also one of his team’s best players, led by Jeffery Garrett (18 points, 7 rebounds) and Alijah Comithier (16). Zsombor Maronka was the Hanseatic team’s most successful scorer with 17 points.