A few days ago, Skyliner coach Gordon Herbert tried to get his team in the right mood setting them on a scavenger treasure hunt in the dense forest of Rothenburg to find the delectable chocolate treasure in a team building measure to help put The Deutsche Bank Skyliners in the right frame of mind for the 2011 beko BBL cup semi final similar to how Kate Middelton will find her pot of gold soon in the British family, Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki finding the right switch for his first NBA crown or young 16 year old German tennis player talent Urs Thurau looking to land in the foot steps of idol Roger Federer and not like dad Didi Thurau as a cyclist, but Frankfurt were unable to find their treasure on the court of the Stechert arena in Bamberg never finding their rhythm slipping to The New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig 82-77. „Even though we had GPS navigation systems in the woods , we were technically unable to use them on the court tonight to help us find the treasure“, commented a sad Kimmo Muurinen of Frankfurt. „ After the big win, New Yorker Phantom players were more than relieved to talk about not letting Frankfurt find that most desirable treasure. „The treasure to reach the final was on the court, but Frankfurt didn´t have the right key to unlock the treasure chest“, stated Braunschweig center Kyle Visser. „We buried the treasure in the ground“, joked Braunschweig American Brandon Thomas. “The key to Braunschweig finding the treasure was that their plan worked best in that they got many hustle plays and got the majority of the loose balls”, expressed Dashaun Wood.
The New Yorker Phantoms hadn´t won against The Deutsche Bank Skyliners in 60 months losing the last 11 games in a row and sooner or later the big bubble losing streak of the Phantoms had to burst. Guys like Brandon Thomas and Kevin Hamilton had lost the last 4 games in a row losing by only a combined score of 17 points and were about as sick of losing as the Gloria Giants Duesseldorf have been this season. Hamilton summed it up best before the game. „I am pretty sick and tired of losing to Frankfurt“, stressed Kevin Hamilton. After the game Kyle Visser reflected about always losing with Braunschweig, but not never having beaten Frankfurt. „Frankfurt has been our achilles heel. Pascal Roller has won too many games against me. However we were very motivated today, but in the beko BBL it is pretty difficult to beat a team 3 times in a season, but I did beat Frankfurt last season with EnBW Ludwigsburg“, joked ex Wake Forest star Kyle Visser. Braunschweig led for most of the game and never let Frankfurt back into the game and displayed disciplined basketball and nothing out of the ordinary. “Coach Machowski prepared his team well. Braunschweig was able to follow their game plan and just did the easy things. They played pick and roll, penetrated and kick out and got the ball inside and that was the key to getting the win”, stated ex German national player Ademola Okulaja.

After the game, Skyliners snuck out of the dressing room door and the few that did speak had little positive to say about the 40 minute Skyliner performance. “Braunschweig had better defense for 40 minutes and just played with more energy. They had way too many offensive rebounds. Even when we played good defense, they were able to get second chances which kept us out of the game. This was a good test, but we failed. We can´t win them all. We are still having a good season”, warned current top scorer of the beko BBL Dashaun Wood. Braunschweig was the big underdog, but showed that anyone can win on any given night. “We played good team defense. We were chasing guys over screens and good rebounding helped us down the stretch. This was one of my biggest wins in Germany with beating Oldenburg last season in the playoffs. But we aren´t satisfied yet. We want to win in the final against Bamberg”, added Brandon Thomas. “We were unable to execute our offense the way that we wanted to. They did a good job forcing us to bad shots. They got timely offensive rebounds and easy lay ups”, stressed Skyliner forward Kimmo Muurinen.
It might only be the second of April, but with 25c outside and the arena feeling like a mild summer, the atmosphere was very much like the start of June in the playoffs. With the Bamberg-Braunschweig game still a few hours away, Bamberg fans were outside enjoying the rays and pouring down some beers, while in the arena 350 Skyliner fans were getting ready for the game with cheers and showcasing their beautiful heart shaped banners with the number of the players. Just before the tip off, the Braunschweig mascot The Phantom was already showing his presence on the court and Dunking Kong was nowhere to be seen on the court as if a bad omen was trying to creep through. The New Yorker Phantoms got out of the blocks quicker taking a fast 9-3 lead as Brandon Thomas nailed a pull up jumper, Kevin Hamilton a three pointer and Kyle Visser scored inside twice finding offensive rebounds as if that was his own personal treasure. Frankfurt had problems from the start with the aggressive Braunschweig defense. Frankfurt didn´t let Braunschweig pull away, but slowly chipped away at the lead going on a 9-5 run to trail only 14-12. Chris Moss made a jumper, Dashaun Wood nailed a three pointer thanks to an offensive rebound by Moss and Dominik Bahiense De Mello caught the Phantom defense napping getting ahead of the pack with a transition bucket. Frankfurt continued to keep the pressure on ending the first quarter with a 8-4 run to lead 20-18. Marius Nolte made some free throws, while Lamarr Greer scored inside hard on the penetration to the hole. However Skyliner American Jimmy Mckinney ended the first quarter with a buzzer beater as Frankfurt led 20-18. “Frankfurt got off to a very slow start not getting used to the aggressive Braunschweig play. Frankfurt got better into the game at the end of the first quarter”, added ex North Carolina Tar Heel Ademola Okulaja.
The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were unable to keep the momentum of the end of the first quarter into the second quarter allowing The New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig go on a 11-2 run to lead 29-22. Frankfurt did get on the board first with a Roger Powell lay in, but Braunschweig played consistent offense and got some stop son defense and profited on some Frankfurt turnovers. Jason Cain showed his versatility hit a three pointer and taking control of the mismatch inside over Wood. Braunschweig then wooed the crowd with a perfect ally-op from Kevin Hamilton to Brandon Thomas as Braunschweig led 29-22. Frankfurt continued to do a good job not letting Braunschweig pull away even more fighting back as Kimmo Muurinen showed his elbows under the basket getting a tip in. Braunschweig continued to get to the free throw line and Visser continued to do damage inside scoring with his quick steps as Braunschweig led 34-26. Frankfurt then cut the Braunschwieg lead to 34-30 as Wood nailed two free throws and Powell scored inside getting an offensive rebound. Jason Cain then got two free throws as Braunschweig led 37-30 just before the break. However Frankfurt took advantage of some Braunschweig mistakes on defense and a lack of concentration as Wood dropped a three pointer and Powell made a tip in as Braunschweig had the narrow 37-35 lead at halftime. “Braunschweig did a good job getting second and third chances and dominating the offensive boards. They also did a good job taking advantage of their height over Frankfurt”, stated ex Bamberg forward Ademola Okulaja. The New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig were shooting 41% from the field and 30% from outside while The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were shooting 38% from the field and 33% from outside. Braunschweig had the 20-16 rebound edge and only six turnovers while Frankfurt had seven turnovers.
Just like in the second quarter, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were unable to come into the next quarter with the intensity that they wanted as they allowed The New Yorker Phantoms on a 14-5 run to lead 52-40. Kyle Visser could do what he wanted under the hoop as there was no stopping him as he scored on a reverse layup and got by Moss without problems. If Jason Cain wasn´t banging, he hurt Frankfurt with his outside bomb and Goree hit a jumper. Kevin Hamilton then scored back to back hoops with a lay in as there was no resistance from the Frankfurt defense and he then showed his strong one on one play with another bucket on the penetration as Braunschweig was leading 52-40. Basketball remains a game of runs as Frankfurt put some pressure on Braunschweig retaliating with a 9-0 run to cut the Braunschweig lead to 52-48. Moss got Frankfurt going with free throws, Wood scored inside making a nice hesitation step and shovel shot, Mckinney making a three pointer on the fast break and Quantez Robertson scoring inside retrieving his own rebound as Frankfurt trailed only 52-48. Braunschweig kept the lead in the last two minutes getting a jumper from Hamilton a huge three pointer from Jason Cain. Wood ended the third quarter with two free throws, but Braunschweig led 57-52. “Braunschweig went on a run and we were unable to get lead. Cain hurt us with his scoring in the third quarter”, added Kimmo Muurinen. The New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig were shooting 47% from the field and 36% from the three point line and The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were shooting 33% from the field and only 19% from the three point line. Braunschweig had the 31-28 rebound advantage, but 10 turnovers while Frankfurt had only nine turnovers.
Granted the Deutsche Bank Skyliners hadn´t played their best basketball after 30 minutes, but Braunschweig not having Tony Skinn due to injury and Kevin Hamilton and Kyle Visser fouling out early in the fourth quarter, one might have seen The Deutsche Bank Skyliners getting back into the game, but The New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig didn´t let their guard down never allowing Frankfurt to cut the lead down to more than three points. Whenever Frankfurt was threatening to tie the game, Braunschweig had an answer on offense and defense and was able to extend the lead. “Our main focus was to hold Wood. He still got his 20 plus points, but we got other key stops and could always keep that 6-10 point cushion”, added Kyle Visser. After Thomas and Powell exchanged three pointers Braunschweig only led 60-57. 24 year old Serb Uros Duvnjak came in for the fouled out Hamilton and scored with a lay up off the penetration. Wood then made two free throws as Frankfurt trailed only 62-59. However Frankfurt was unable to get some magic cooking on defense as Braunschweig continued to get to the foul line and score. Cain made two free throws and made one of his four free throws unleashing a loud cry that unraveled the phantom mascot and could be heard all the way back to his home town Philladelphia as Braunschweig led 67-59 with 4.28 to play. Frankfurt had used so much energy fighting back and with their energy slowing dwindling, Braunschweig was a real thorn in their side making them work for every shot. Powell scored inside, but Braunschweig quickly answered with Goree and Greer free throws as Frankfurt trailed 70-61. With time running out, Frankfurt continued to score, but Braunschweig was smart got to the free throw line and kept the lead in a range that was just out of reach for Frankfurt to get back into the game. Muurinen got some garbage points as did Super Tez as Frankfurt trailed only 75-69 with a minute to go. Wood hit two more three pointers, but Braunschweig got more free throws from Greer and Goree sealing the win for Braunschweig. “We stuck together and never got down. We have been able to come back in the past. I feel that we wanted to win more than Frankfurt. “We had open shots that we didn´t always make. When we don´t make shots, than we lose confidence and that hurt us tionight. Braunschwieg played with a lot of heart. They wanted to win more than us. They did the job with key guys injured or fouled off and you have to tip your hat to them”, stressed Dashaun Wood.
The New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig were led by Jason Cain with 25 points. Marcus Goree added 14 points and 12 rebounds. Kyle Visser produced 12 points and six rebounds. Kevin Hamilton chipped in with 10 points. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners were led by Dashaun Wood with 24 points, four rebounds and six assists. Roger Powell added 15 points and eight rebounds. The New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig shot better and held Frankfurt to only 36% from the field and 25% from the parking lot and won the rebounding duel 40-38. “Braunschweig played very physical defense and did a great job on one on one defense and played our ball screens well”, stressed Kimmo Muurinen. Frankfurt knew before the game that controlling the boards would be vital for getting the win, but were unable to match their versatility down low. “Frankfurt had problems defending their big men. They have 4-5 guys over 2.00cm and then guys that can hit from outside. That is simply hard to defend”, stated Ademola Okulaja. The Deutsche Bank Skyliners play The Artland Dragons for third place in the 2011 BEKO BBL Top 4 on April 3rd.