When checking out the Looney Tunes, there is absolutely no surprise that the roadrunner never gets captured and eaten by the motivated Wile E coyote, because the bird is too quick and too smart. In Weissenfels, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were looking to start  a new winning streak and were up against a torn and tattered  Mitteldeutscher BC squad. The scenario on the floor was similar to Looney Tunes as Dashaun “mr roadrunner” had to put up with pesky wolves all night long, but the current leading scorer in the BEKO BBL had the hoop in front of him at most instances and the MBC wolves behind him as he led Frankfurt to the 70-58 win and had no problems getting the wolf pack to retreat back to their dens. “I was the sun. When the sun rises, wolves go away. I was slowly rising in the second half and when I made the last of the floaters, I had reached the top. There was no more howling from the wolves and they went back to their caves”, laughed Dashaun Wood. Quantez Robertson was glad that Wood was on his side. “The wolves were unable to catch up to him. Wood howled like crazy which the wolves didn´t like”, smiled Quantez Robertson. “Wood was a very hot sun that was burning”, added Kimmo Muurinen. Wood was as unstoppable as a tiger tearing apart an antelope on a barren field in Africa, and the way Kemba Walker has been leading UCONN to the 2011 NCAA Final 4. “Wood is the heart and soul of team. He is most comfortable when he can do what he wants. The difference between him and other players is that he is consistent and gets the job done”, added Ronald Ross.

The Deutsche Bank Skyliners had had  a tough time digesting the 79-70l oss to 8 time BEKO BBL champion Alba Berlin last weekend and one might of expected that Frankfurt would jump out on MBC early, but instead they were trailing as the home team was desperate to win and get out of the BEKO BBL cellar. Frankfurt surprisingly had a tougher time with the 16th ranked MBC squad, but in the end a win is a win no matter if it was pretty or butt ugly. “I have said all year long that any win on the road is big. Drums were playing and it was harsh environment, but as soon as we got control, they had a tough time coming back. No team is easy in this league as each team can win against anyone. It is important that we continue to bounce back after losses”, stressed Dashaun Wood. MBC lost their fifth game in a row and continue to drown at the bottom of the standings. “This was a very disappointing loss. We practiced well this week, but let the game get away in the third quarter. We couldn´t get flow going the way we needed too”, added MBC guard Ronald Ross. “This wasn´t a pretty win. We found a way to pick up our intensity in the second half, played more aggressive defense and limited them to one shot”, added Quantez Robertson.

Despite the precarious situation that the Mitteldeutscher BC is in this season with the possibility of being sent back to the PRO A, the maker and thinker of the organization Martin Geissler seemed calm before the start of the game and never would have thought at the start of the season that his team would be so near going back down. “I knew that we would play to stay in the BEKO BBL this season, but didn´t think that we would encounter so many negative things. These things all came together and the sudden sickness to coach Bjoern Harmsen also was unexpected. Things can only get better”, added Martin Geissler. Despite the loss to Frankfurt the club remains upbeat. “The mood is optimistic. In the last games, we have had chances to leave Giessen and BBC Bayreuth behind us. We have had many unlucky close loses. The games against Giessen and Tuebingen will be huge. I think that if we can win 3 more games to reach 10 wins, that should be enough”, warned Martiun Geissler. It isn´t only Germans Guido Gruinheid and Sascha Leutloff holding the team together, but also 2 Americans. “Johnnie Gilbert has been holding the team together. He has a great personality and attitude. He is always giving 100% in practice. Wayne Bernard has been our most improved player. This is his third season with us and is always consistent”, said Geissler.

Before the jump ball, Skyliner Marius Nolte and Sascha Leutloff took a very long time discussing things at center court. A tall dark haired ex German national player was also among the crowd checking out the game as New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig coach Sebastian Machowski was scouting the game as his team will face The Deutsche Bank Skyliners next weekend in the BEKO BBL Cup Top 4 in Bamberg. Frankfurt came from 19c Frankfurt weather to the uncomfortable 2c weather in Weissenfelsand were flat in the first minute as MBC broke out on a 6-0 run. MBC scored their first three baskets inside from Wayne Bernard, Ronald Ross and Velimir Radinovic as Frankfurt was too hesitant on the glass. Wood and Bernard then traded baskets, but it was Bernard getting a offensive rebound further displaying the early Frankfurt flaw on the boards. Frankfurt continued to come back as Quantez Robertson made two free throws. Super Tez than made  a two handed dunk cutting the MBC lead to 8-6.One thing that Dashaun Wood has done very well in the last 3-4 games is continuing to find teammates cutting from the wing and feeding them back door for easy buckets. “Defenses continue to watch me and when that happens, guys like Tez, Roger Powell and Maurius Nolte will get easy baskets as seen tonight. If the defense continues to stare at me while penetrating, then we will continue to get easy shots inside”, warned Dashaun Wood. “The defense watches Wood and they send help over which allows me sneak in and he finds me”, added Quantez Robertson. “Wood is good at penetrating and draws a lot of attention to guards getting off the screens. You have to play very smart defense to defend this”, commented MBC guard Wayne Bernard. The game continued to be very tight as Ross scored his second hoop on the penetration with his left hand. Frankfurt had had a lot of misfortune up to this juncture with four in and out shots. Wood continued to keep Frankfurt in the game with a pull up jumper and mid distance jumper as the score was knotted at 14-14. After a quick scoot by Serb 188cm guard Radenko Pilcevic to give MBC the 16-14 lead, it was Wood who finally gave Frankfurt its first lead 17-16 with a bomb from the parking lot. MBC ended the first quarter with 1 4-2 run as Ross buried a three pointer and Gilbert scored inside. Chris Moss made a tip in as MBC led only 21-19. “There was a lot of offense in the first quarter. MBC was very aggressive and had less problems containing Wood on the penetration. MBC also hit their open shots”, added New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig skipper Sebastian Machowski. “We had trouble getting into our flow. They were aggressive and got us out of our play”, said Skyliner forward Kimmo Muurinen.
In the second quarter, the basketball game remained very tight as The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were unable to retake the lead as MBC stayed fierce and Frankfurt made too many costly mistakes especially offensive fouls. “We were aggressive on defense more in the second half, but we wanted to give them bumps giving a statement that we are playing hard”, stressed Dashaun Wood. Bernard started the second quarter with a smooth three pointer getting fed nicely by a Ross kick out dish as MBC led 24-19. However Frankfurt reacted with a 4-0 run to cut the MBC lead to 24-23 as Jevohn Shepherd made a pull up jumper and Moss a reverse lay up. Gilbert and Shepherd then traded hoops as MBC continued to out hustle Frankfurt on the offensive boards as MBC led 27-25. MBC then caught Frankfurt napping as Radenko Pilcevic fed Bernard with a touchdown pass for an easy fast break basket and the 29-25 MBC lead. Wood continued to keep Frankfurt in the game with a three pointer and lay in dancing past Ross in the lane. Muurinen then got ahead of the Wolf pack on the fast break and made a two handed dunk to give Frankfurt their second lead of the game 32-31. Wood closed out the first half with a lay up as Frankfurt led 34-32. The second quarter was more defensive from both teams. MBC had big problems finding a way to stop Wood”, stressed Braunschwieg coach Sebastian Machowski.”We gave up too many offensive rebounds in the first half and they outhustled us”, expressed Kimmo Muurinen. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were shooting 52% from the field and 43% from outside while MBC was shooting 41% from the field and 20% from outside. MBC had the 15-12 rebound edge and only six turnovers as Frankfurt had 8 turnovers.

The turning point of the game came in the third quarter as The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were able to break away for the first time and lead by 10 points going into the fourth quarter. Quantez Air Cincinnati Robertson started the third quarter with a lay in getting anotehr dangerous pass from Wood on the penetration as he was making a flight from the wing as Frankfurt led 36-32. Not only Dashaun Wood is able to score in bunches, but also dangerous scorer Ronald Ross who blasetd MBC back with his own 4-0 run with a lay in and pull up jumper to tie the game. However Frankfurt then closed out the third quarter with a more aggressive defense with a 16-6 run to lead 52-42. Frankfurt started the run with excellent ball movement finding Super tez open and he dropped a high rainbow from the corner. Jimmy Mckinney nailed a three pointer, Roger Powell scored inside, Wood with a reverse lay up and Marius Nolte with a lay up as Wood found him coming in to the basket from the baseline. Frankfurt led 48-40 as the Weissenfels arena had gotten very quiet. Pilcevic and Gilbert then made  a perfect pick and role as Gilbert dunked and Powell and Nolte closed out the third quarter with free throws as Frankfurt led 52-42. “I dont think that we really made any technical adjustments on defense. Things just started working better for us being more aggressive. Coach Herbert woke us up to work harder”, stressed Kimmo Muurinen. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were shooting 50% from the field and 42% from the three point line while MBC was shooting 38% from the field and 17% from the three point line. MBC still had the 19-18 rebound edge and 13 turnovers while Frankfurt had 15 turnovers.
In the fourth quarter, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners continued to control the game being able to extend their lead while MBC was struggling to break the aggressive Frankfurt defense. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners started off the fourth quarter with a 7-2 run as MBC had problems getting out of the starting block as Frankfurt had their biggest lead of the game at 59-46. Powell tested his 28% three point percentage by nailing a shot from downtown and them made free throws as did Wood. Grunheid made a reverse layup as Ross took a chapter out of the book of Wood finding the German streaking to the hoop from the baseline. A big problem of MBC in this game was their inability to be consistent often making 1-2 nice offensive plays, but then returning unconcentrated missing shots in a hurry up type offense or coughing up the ball. “In the past few games, we have struggled in the second half. Frankfurt did a good job adjusting to our plays. They read certain things well and took certain things away from us. We have to learn in the remaining games that when an opponent adjusts on defense, we need to adjust on offense and find another option to score”, added Wayne Bernard. From this point on, MBC outscored Frankfurt 14-11 to end the game, but they just had too little consistent fire power. Gruinheid and Ross scored inside cutting the Frankfurt lead to 59-48, but whenever MBC was mildly threatening to come back, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were able to execute on offense or make big plays on defense like a Powell block on Bernard. After a wood off balance shot, it was Pilcevic who finally hit a three pointer as Frankfurt still led 62-52. With crunch time approaching, MBC had no gas left  as Powell scored on  a hook shot, Wood made 2/4 free throws  as Robertson made a fast break hoop as Frankfurt led 68-54 with under two minutes to play. Radinovic and Pilcevic scored in the last minute and Wood made a runner in the lane as Frankfurt won 70-58. “Frankfurt started the fourth quarter well and got the free throw line. You have to play Frankfurt close to have any kind of chance against them”, warned Ronald Ross. “We played great aggressive defense in the second half. We held them to 26 points. Our defense kept us in the game”,added Dashaun Wood.
The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were led by Dashaun Wood with 26 points. Roger Powell added 12 points and six rebounds. Quantez Robertson chipped in with 11 points. The Mitteldeutscher BC was led by Ronald Ross with 17 points. Wayne Bernard produced 11 points and Radenko Pilcevic 10 points. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners now will refocus for the 2011 BEKO BBL Top 4 in Bamberg next weekend. Frankfurt still can improve some things including their offense and getting rid of that nasty reference that the club is to dependent on Dashaun Wood. “Our offensive execution wasn´t well against MBC. They did a good job denying passing lanes, but still we should be able to handle this type of pressure. We will have to learn from this and improve in the next game. Wood takes what the defense gives him and we have no problems with him taking open shots, but we still could get more contribution from more players”, warned Kimmo Muurinen. Next weekend, Frankfurt has the chance again to win their first title since the 2004 final, but to get to the final, the team will have to dispose of Braunschweig. “We will have a few days rest now. The team will have to be mentally and physically ready for the TOP 54. We might have a good record against them in the last years, but we have always had hard games against them. They are fully aware that they have the chance to win a title, but so are we. We will be focused, because we know that they wont give us any presents”, warned Skyliner sport director Kamil Novak. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners face off against The New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig in the BEKO BBL Top 4  April 2nd.