There are a few highlight situations in the game of basketball that really gets the regular fan´s heart pumping, releasing that certain sparkle in the eyes, getting that body to make  a certain jump that could give the back forever problems for the older generation or just exert that unbelievable force from the mouth hurling a scream that could even wake up the most pooped and stuffed bear after having just devoured its last winter meal and that is that amazing buzzer beater shot that is always lurking somewhere near the end of a basketball game. However what is nicer for the fan and player knowing for 40 minutes that it is a do or die game and the whole future of the season lies in the hands of each and single player. A do or die game in more technical terms is requiring supreme effort to avoid the dire consequences of failure or involving an extreme emergency. This exactly what was facing German Pro B club TV Langen after losing game one in Oldenburg 78-73 in the best of three series and needed a win at home. The week leading up to the do or die game Canadian Jermel Air Canada Kennedy definitely knew about the vast importance of the game and stayed rather cool stating what the team and he himself had to do to force a second do or die game in 72 hours in Oldenburg. “We know what this two are capable of I’m sure that we will take them a little more serious come Saturday. I will make a couple practice adjustments nothing to out of the norm”, warned Jermel Kennedy. However Kennedy was unable to hold his promise as TV Langen had an awful shooting day and just were worn down by Oldenburg 77-56 advancing to the next round of the German Pro B playoffs next meeting the winner of the Bochum-Hanau series. TV Langen had produced special shirts of all or nothing win or go home, but were unable to have that consistent do or die aggressive attitude for 40 minutes. “I don´t really know what my teammates were thinking, but for me I go into every game with that do or die feeling. Especially in these pressure type games, you need to have that do or die attitude. You can´t only go in and do it alone, but you need to do it as a team and we didn´t do that. We had a very bad shooting day and had problems against their zone. We were unable to execute on offense and just had problems with their taller players”, stressed South Carolina native Martins Woody. Oldenburg came into the game with a full roster and really did  a great job utilizing their length and physical strength which TV Langen had no answer for. “We stuck to our game plan and didn´t let Woody or Kennedy score inside, but wanted them to shoot and try to beat us. We just palyed great team basketball on offense and defense”, stressed Kentucky native Jordan Reeves.

Oldenburg came out of the starting block with more force going on a quick 6-0 run as Paul Albrecht scored twice and Washington native Michael Taylor hit a difficult runner. Ex Science City Jena teammates Albrecht and Johannes Voigtmann met again even if the Fraport Skyliner was only watching his buddy and was very happy with his current development. “He has been progressing well in Jena and I haven´t seen a player of his age that has a better hook shot”, commented Eisenach native Johannes Voigtmann. That basketball is a game of runs is no secret and TV Langen finally got into the game going on an 8-0 run to lead 8-6. TV Langen did a good job getting to the free throw line and got some timely shots from Sebastian Barth and ex Skyliner Filmore Beck who nailed a runner and gave TV Langen their first lead. After Beck and Dominik Lockhart exchanged three pointers, TV Langen went on a mini 5-0 run to lead 16-11 as Sebastian Barth hit another three pointer and Woody dropped free throws. However the game may have turned drastically in the favor of Oldenburg in the last minute as they ended the first quarter with a lightening 6-0 run capitalizing on embarrassing TV Langen errors. German Kai Haenig scored inside, then Michael Taylor found some room for a easy bucket and Kevin Smit than made a steal and went coast to coast which seemed to be a sign of what was to follow for Oldenburg heightening their game while TV Langen couldn´t come to terms with their pressure game. TV Langen lost some concentration at the end which led to errors that should never happen at that rate in a do or die game. “TV Langen had some problems taking care of the ball and they really gave up unneeded points at the end of the first quarter”, stressed Johannes Voigtmann. “We had problems with their pressure which led to turnovers and easy baskets”, expressed Martins Woody. Oldenburg was shooting 44% from the two point range and 50% from outside while TV Langen was shooting 40% from the two point range and 43% from outside. Oldenburg had the 12-7 rebound edge, but four turnovers while TV Langen had three turnovers.

Oldenburg used that momentum from the end of the first quarter and really took off going on a 12-0 run to lead 29-16 in the second quarter as TV Langen would be unable to get close again as the visitors continued to play very spirited and consistent basketball until the end. In the run, Oldenburg got production form four different players as German big man Alexander Witte showed his outside shooting strength and inside play hitting a three pointer and scoring inside, Kevin Smit finished inside with a pretty finger tip role, Michael Taylor made free throws and young 18 year old German talent Jan Niklas Wimberg hit a three pointer.”TV Langen had some organization problems without Maxime Schneider in the game during this run. Oldenburg did a good job making the game quicker and getting good shots”, added Johannes Voigtmann. TV Langen had a small 5-0 run to cut the Oldenburg lead to 29-21 as Sebastian Barth connected from the corner again, and Filmore Beck snuck inside for a lay up, but whenever TV Langen was able to cut the lead a bit, they were unable to get big stops on defense as Oldenburg slashed back going on a 8-0 run to extend their lead to 37-21. In the run Oldenburg got three pointers from Taylor and Smit and a lay in from Jordan Reeves. TV Langen closed out the second quarter with a big Schneider three pointer and a beautiful Jermel Kennedy left handed lay in, but Oldenburg led at the break 37-26. “TV Langen didn´t score for eight minutes. This seemed to break their back, but they kept fighting back and weren´t out of it, but they weren´t defending aggressive enough”, stated Johannes Voigtmann. Oldenburg was shooting 48% from the two point range and 63% from the three point line and TV Langen was shooting 38% from the field and 33% from the three point line. Oldenburg had the big 20-11 rebound edge, but 11 turnovers while TV Langen had nine turnovers.

In the third quarter, Oldenburg continued to keep a healthy lead as TV Langen continued to fight back, but never got closer than nine points. TV Langen started the scoring with a Sebastian Barth lay in as Oldenburg led only 37-28. Paul Albrecht them slammed home a dunk while German Benedikt Nikolay got a back door pass from Woody who led his team with five assists and Smit then made an amazing lay in past the 201cm Woody and Albrecht made a left handed hook shot as Oldenburg led 43-30. Oldenburg continued to let TV Langen hang around as Kennedy scored inside and Schneider banged home a three pointer, but Reeves scored inside as Oldenburg led 49-35. Both teams made some free throws in the last minutes, but TV Langen continued to be unable to go on a big run to get closer as Oldenburg led 53-40. “TV Langen continued to show that they won´t give up. They had problems finding a balance on offense. Oldenburg was very tough on the boards and forced TV Langen to tough shots”, added Johannes Voigtmann.

Oldenburg closed out the game nicely with 24 points in the fourth quarter as TV Langen started to hang their heads a bit and just ran out of gas. Woody started the fourth quarter with a mid distance jumper over Reeves as TV Langen was clawing back trailing 53-42, but Oldenburg started to get going holding their lead until they would break open the game in the second half of the fourth quarter. Wimberg and Reeves scored inside and Woody cut the Oldenburg lead to 54-45 with a tip in on the fourth attempt. However Oldenburg than decided the game ultimately with a 15-2 run to lead 69-47 and booking the ticket for the next round. In the big run, Oldenburg got sufficient support from many players like German Lucien Schmikale, Haenig and Smit. Smit also found Taylor for an ally-op lay in. After Nikolay free throws, Oldenburg was able to extend their lead to 75-50 as Smit nailed a three pointer and Witte scored inside. “I think that TV Langen  let down a bit. We knew that they can shoot so we kept pressuring them”, stressed American Jordan Reeves. The TV Langen bright spot to the season end was their 6-2 run to close out the game. Woody, Bolke and Barth scored inside, but it was too little too late. “Oldenburg played very well and if they keep playing the way they did against us in the next rounds then they could go far”, stressed Martins Woody. “Our biggest strength today was that each player did their job. Our bigs also did a great job as we showed that we can do it all inside or out”, added Jordan Reeves. “Oldenburg had more class today. Oldenburg had a very strong physical inside game and just played better team basketball while TV Langen did too much one on one play. I really enjoyed watching Jan Niklas Wimberg. He played with a lot of courage for his age”, warned Johannes Voigtmann. Oldenburg was led by Michael Taylor with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Kevin Smit added 13 points and Jan Niklas Wimberg and Kai Haenig contributed 12 points a piece. TV Langen was led by Sebastian Barth with 15 points and Martins Woody had 11 points. Oldenberg shot very well at 54% from the field and 43% from outside while TV Langen shot only 31% from the field and 20% from outside. TV Langen also was outrebounded 43-31.