The Frankfurt Skyliners remain unbeaten on their home court. It was a close contest for much of the match against Veolia Towers Hamburg, but in the end the Hessians secured a clear 89–78 victory.
Fourth home game, fourth win – the Skyliners remain unbeaten at home across all competitions. Klaus Perwas’s team had the game against the Towers under control for long stretches, but were unable to pull away for much of the match.
The foundation for the victory was laid by the performances of Judah Mintz (27 points, 10/16 FG, 3/3 from three-point range, 4 steals) and William Christmas (18 points, 7 rebounds), who were the dominant players that afternoon. Mintz impressed throughout the 40 minutes with his drive to the basket, but in the fourth quarter the guard then sank two three-pointers in quick succession, giving his team their biggest lead of the day so far (83–71).
A few minutes earlier, Towers coach Benka Barloschky had tried to rouse his team once more with an emotional time-out, but his efforts came to nothing because Frankfurt simply had better shot-making in the closing minutes. Consequently, it didn’t matter that Isaiah Swope (3, 1/8 FG) couldn’t find his rhythm at all. However, the Hessians have significantly greater depth this season and were able to compensate for this.
Skyliners jump to third place
For the Towers, David Muenkat (17, 14 rebounds) impressed with a strong double-double, with the Canadian grabbing seven rebounds on the offensive board. Kenneth Ogbe contributed 16 points, whilst playmaker Zakai Zeigler (13) also scored in double figures.
Frankfurt thus leapfrog to third place, whilst Hamburg, by contrast, is one of five teams that have managed just one win so far this season in the easycredit BBL. The Skyliners now travel to London for their EuroCup fixture. However, the match will not take place until Thursday, as the Lions are first away to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the NBA pre-season. Hamburg will host FC Bayern in the Netto BBL Cup this coming Sunday at 6 pm.
