When one sees the beautiful countryside around Greenville, South Carolina one could expect to catch some nice hiking routes, but one can also find enticing festivals in nearby Fountain Inn where they close Main street as many vendors share their craft with folks. If this is a distance that TV Langen forward Martinis Woody travels between work outs during the summer is unknown, but approximately that same distance of 22 kilometers is a route he likes to take in Germany when he travels from Langen to Frankfurt to watch his friend Quantez Robertson play with Beko BBL team Fraport Skyliners. If his schedule permits, one can always see Woody in the front row sitting next to the wives and farm team players taking in a good game and possibly picking up new tips from the players even if one would think that the 32 year old 201cm forward has learned all he needs to know in six years of professional basketball. It hasn´t been the easiest of seasons for Woody as he got a rude welcome in the first weeks as teams seemed to double team him more which annoyed him and his play. Last season he averaged 18,3ppg and 9,3rpg, but reached his season average of 18 points last season just once in the first 10 games scoring 19 points against Wurzburg this s eason. Now if he has received extra tips on the floor in the Fraport arena from Skyliners or visiting teams is unknown, but in the last three games the American has been in serious beast mode as he has averaged 21 points and 15 rebounds per game. TV Langen lost against Saarlouis where Woody produced massive stats of 22 and 18, but since then the club has really come alive in the last two games winning on the road in Speyer and Karlsruhe as he displayed 25 and 21 points and 13 and 14 rebounds. Of course the injury to TV Langen top scorer Nick Freer has hurt the team as Woody has gotten the burden of the scoring on his shoulder again, but that is something he has been used to the last years and is showing again that he can still be a nasty creature in the paint for any opponent. The EN Baskets Schwelm visited Langen and Woody and the American had the burden again of having to dominate down low, but the visitors did their homework keeping him in check and coasting to a comfortable 85-70. The EN Baskets Schwelm were led by their Johnson and Johnson duo of American Jody and Chris. Johnson and Johnson is an American multinational medical devices pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods manufacturer which brands include numerous household names of medications and first aid supplies. The Johnson and Johnson duo may not have used any oversized band aids to slow down TV Langen, but just patched them up on both ends of the court with their play that left the home team helpless in their own living room. “Woody is a skilled big man. We just wanted to double him as much as possible when he touched the ball. He got some buckets, but overall I thought that we contained him well and capitalized off it. This past week our new coach Omar Rahim and us just worked on getting our intensity back. We worked a lot on pushing the ball and just getting out on transition. We did a good job doing this against TV Langen. Having regained that intensity back again, we were able to control the boards. Everyone helped with our two bigs, Chris and myself as well as new guy Max Massing. We always go into games wanting to win the rebounding duel”, stated Washington native Jody Johnson. After the loss it was unknown if TV Langen forward Martinis Woody who was chatting with his buddy Quantez Robertson and Mike Morrison of the Fraport Skyliners was talking about being blocked by Max Massing or who was going to win the forward duel in Frankfurt Sunday between German talents Danilo Barthel and Daniel Theis. After he said farewell to the players, he could only predict certain stats since there were no stats available at that time due to technical problems and had a solution why he couldn´t match the 21 ppg and 15rpg average he had the previous three games. “Turnovers cost us the game tonight. I think we had something between 18-20 turnovers. In the last three games I wasn´t getting double teamed until the second half. Tonight they did it from the start and didn´t let me do anything with it”, stressed TV Langen forward Martinis Woody.

TV Langen got going quickly taking a quick 5-0 lead as American Anish Sharda opened up the scoring draining a three pointer receiving a perfect kick out pass form the post from Martinis Woody. German 19 year old Tom Alte added to the scoring punch with a left handed lay in. Gianluca Raebel added a three pointer, but the EN Baskets Schwelm quickly got into their groove tying the score at 8-8 as 31 year old veteran Sebastian Schroeter scored inside while Johnson and Johnson got going as Jody scored twice inside while being fed for the second bucket from Canadian Chris. TV Langen would hold the lead momentarily as Woody and ex Giessen 46ers Mathias Perl exchanged buckets inside. After Benedikt Nickolay hit free throws, fans saw the most spectacular play of the evening as Anish Sharda threw up a high lob pass that German Tom Alte caught and dunked over Schwelm German 204cm forward Julius Ducker for the massive ally-op slam dunk. TV Langen led 14-10, but Schwelm went on a 7-0 run to get their first lead of the contest 17-14. In the run, it was Ducker that showed his inside out qualities scoring inside and then stepping outside sinking the three and Chris Johnson scored on a fast break play as he was found ex Phoenix Hagen guard Max Kramer. Schroeter and Woody then did their typical damage inside getting easy put back points, but Schwelm held the lead 19-18. Schwelm closed out the first quarter with a timely 6-2 run to lead 25-20 after one quarter. Max Kramer started the run testing his 32% three point accuracy and connecting which was followed by a Chris Johnson runner. Tom Alte gave TV Langen the last points of the quarter controlling an offensive rebound and getting the put back. “Schwelm outrebounded TV Langen, got easy baskets and got to the free line. Woody looked tired. He needed to pick his spots more and have patience”, stressed Fraport Skyliner Quantez Robertson.

The second quarter stayed tight until the EN Baskets Schwelm broke away in the last few minutes to lead in double digits. Ducker and Kevin Lueye mixed it up in the scoring department in the first two minutes as they traded baskets twice. Ducker once again displayed his versatile play scoring inside being a beast on the boards and then showing his three point beast mode stepping behind the three point line for a hoop. Lueye showed his aggressiveness as he scored inside and nailed a jumper as TV Langen trailed 30-24. TV Langen continued to threaten and fight back as Sharda who sees his defense as a part of his game that is underestimated made a slick steal and went coast to coast driving over Chris Johnson and Tom Alte scored inside as Schwelm led 30-28. The EN Baskets Schwelm then used good defense which translated into transition points from Max Kramer and Schroeter continued to be a thorn for TV Langen under the basket as he scored twice as TV Langen trailed 36-28. Both teams were capable of going on mini runs as now it was time for TV Langen as they cut the Schwelm lead to 36-32 as Sharda made the perfect bounce pass in traffic finding Woody for two points and Sharda made free throws. However that didn´t intimidate or shock Schwelm as they went into half time going on a 10-3 run to lead 46-35. It was Johnson and Johnson that scored all 10 points in the run as Chris Johnson contributed eight points scoring inside three times and Jody Johnson also creating havoc inside as his athleticism just couldn´t be matched by any TV Langen player. Sharda closed out the second quarter with a timely three pointer. “Schwelm hurt TV Langen with their second chance points, offensive rebounds and getting to the free throw line. TV Langen was taken out of their comfort zone and just weren´t as aggressive as Schwelm”, stressed Cincinnati native Quantez Robertson.

The EN Baskets Schwelm were able to decide the game in the third quarter thanks to an opening run and led by as much as 22 points. The EN Baskets Schwelm started off the third quarter with a devastating 9-0 run to lead 55-35. Perl started the run by gliding to the basket as TV Langen showed no resistance whatsoever. Ducker nailed free throws and then it was Johnson and Johnson again providing the damage as Jody hit free throws and made a pull up jumper while Chris ended the run with fast break points as TV Langen once again were napping on defense not being able to get back on defense. Schwelm continued to clog the lane not letting TV Langen to get inside, but forcing them to difficult shots. Even when TV Langen made a small burst of offensive thrust with Woody and Yannik Schiktanz buckets inside, they would counter by keeping their offense consistent as Schroeter and Perl scored to give Schwelm the 61-41 advantage. It wasn´t like TV Langen wasn´t trying to sneak back into the game as they tried to mix things up with a full court press which led to a Kevin Lueye three pointer. However Schwelm continued to run and catch TV Langen napping as Leo Padberg and Schroeter scored twice. Schwelm did it all night as the touchdown pass became second nature like does a typical lay up. In the last minute, Chris Johnson connected on a jumper and Max Kramer scored on transition. Sharda connected twice on a floater and lay up, but the EN Baskets Schwelm still had the commanding lead after three quarters with 73-51. “Coach told us at halftime to keep the intensity in the third quarter and we did getting good steals and easy baskets”, said ex Central Washington guard Jody Johnson. “Schwelm was more aggressive than we were and we were too relaxed. They just wanted to win more than we did”, explained Martinis Woody.

In the fourth quarter, the EN Baskets Schwelm got away somewhat from their consistent play of the first 3o minutes, but that was no surprise as they were up by 20 points and were wondering if they would have a victory return home in a snow storm? This was TV Langen´s best quarter, but they just ran out of time at the end as they were somewhat threatening Schwelm to get it back near 10 points. After Kramer opened up the fourth quarter with a lay in, it was TV Langen that escaped out on a 10-2 run to cut the Schwelm lead to 77-61. Schiktanz and 16 year old German Jona Hoffmann scored inside while Alte was the classic cherry picker getting a missed rebound that no Schwelm player seemed to want and stuffing home for the two points. Alte made an off balance shot while Sharda scored inside. Just when one thought that this might be that desired come back from TV Langen, Schwelm slammed a 5-0 run in their face ultimately deciding the game as Johnson and Johnson scored as Jody made a put back and Chris saw nothing but net from downtown as Schwelm led 82-61. TV Langen closed out the game with a 10-2 run. Tom Alte continued to fine tune his stats with a mid distance shot and put back while Sharda nailed an open three pointer and Woody scored inside. “We wanted to play a perfect game, but that isn´t always easy when your up by so much. We got a bit lazy at the end and wanted to win by 30, but instead won by 15 points. I am just glad we won”, stressed Jody Johnson. “Schwelm dominated the boards. Their big guys didn´t even have to get the rebounds. They were focused on boxing out me and Tom Alte and their guards got the rebounds. We will keep our heads up and forget about this game and get prepared for Frankfurt. We will learn from this loss. We want to push as the playoffs are still a goal. If we can get that chemistry back which we had the last three games then we will be ok”, stated Martinis Woody. The EN Baskets Schwelm were led by Chris Johnson with 27 points. Julius Ducker added 12 points, Jody Johnson 11 points and Sebastian Schroeter had 10 points. TV Langen was led by Tom Alte with 20 points. Anish Sharda added 19 points and 10 assists and Martinis Woody chipped in with 13 points and nine rebounds. The EN Baskets Schwelm shot 46% from the field and 29% from outside while TV Langen shot 42% from the field and 31% from outside. The EN Baskets Schwelm won the rebound duel 44-36 and had 16 turnovers while TV Langen had 14 turnovers.