For 23 year old 190cm guard DJ Woodmore who hails from Virginia Beach and is playing his second professional season with the BIS Baskets Speyer winning hasn´t been something that has happened often since turning professional so looking back at his monumental ODAC tournament win in 2014 with Virginia Wesleyan (NCAA3) is something he will reflect on from time to time so not to totally be depressed in Germany. This season hasn´t been any different than his rookie season last year as his team is 1-7 having only beat Weissenhorn while giving up a massive 81 points per game while mustering only 71 points which aren´t very prosperous stats for success. Last season Woodmore lost both games against the Fraport Sklyiners and he has one thing in common with players like Tim Oldenburg and Niklas Kiel that they all experienced bitter loses the last times that they were on the floor in the BCM in Frankfurt. The last time that Woodmore was in Frankfurt was in January 2015 when he witnessed a very bitter 75-73 loss as he produced 15 points, but it wasn´t enough to pull out an amazing win and 2014 NBBL rookie of the year Niklas Kiel who averaged 15/13 that season and future police man Tim Oldenburg last were on the BCM floor two weeks ago where they were on the short end of a very bitter 94-87 loss to Saarlouis where they gave up a 12-2 run in the last two minutes as once again they were unable to contain Mr Regionaliga Ricky Easterling who clobbered Frankfurt with 31 points and upped his total to 91 points in the last three Pro B games. Woodmore met up against Kiel and Oldenburg again and all three were very motivated to finally exit the BCM floor as a winner again and not a loser feeling the need to wrap a paper bag over their head after another bitter crunch time loss, but the American Woodmore had to exit the floor as the loser for a third time as the Fraport Skyliners Juniors routed the BIS Baskets Speyer 89-68. Woodmore was calm after the loss, but one could sense that he was fuming inside as Frankfurt still have his number, but that could change. “We got off to a poor start and were down by 20 after one quarter. Thompson hit his first four three pointers and that was the difference as Frankfurt rolled with it. After that we lost focus on defense. It is hard to come back when your down so much, but I thought that we outplayed them in the last three quarters. It was hard losing here again. Last season we lost on the last shot here and were close at home as well. I hope we can get them back at home. The next time we meet we will be more in tune on offense and defense”, warned DJ Woodmore. After two poor games, the Fraport Skyliners showed another strong effort and a big difference was that many of the Beko BBL license players were in the rotation again, but the result could still have been better. “We didn´t play bad for 40 minutes, but not as good as we could of. One can see how strong we are when we are complete. However Speyer is in last place and even though they have potential having beat Weissenhorn, they are a team that we could of beat by more”, warned Fraport Skyliners forward Tim Oldenburg. “We had a very strong first half, but didn´t sell ourselves well in the second half. When we are playing well, we need to keep playing our game and not let up”, added Fraport Skyliner Niklas Kiel.

In the first quarter the Fraport Skyliners found their offensive rhythm quickly and nailed shot after shot until the clock sounded after 10 minutes and Frankfurt had put 35 points on the board. Frankfurt quickly got off to a 10-3 lead as their ball movement was magnificent and one had to wonder if head coach Eric Detlev had shown his team the Europe Cup video of Frankfurt-Leiden or Max Merz had told his teammates the secret to top ball movement. Frankfurt was led by two trey´s from Merz and American Travis Thompson and a lay in and Johannes Richter scored inside after being fed beautifully from Kiel. The BIS Baskets Speyer then got their offense going cutting the Frankfurt lead to 14-10 as 24 year Martin Rittinger who played 2 Pro A games for Heidelberg tested his 41,9% from outside connecting as his quick shot reminds one of Anton Gavel, 18 year old Matthias Meier scored inside and DJ Woodmore hit a pull up jumper. However after that the Fraport Skyliners Juniors got instant offense that got hotter and hotter as the club went on a 21-5 run to lead 35-15 after one quarter. Frankfurt got back to back three pointers from Thompson, Kiel and Richter as their consistency from outside was amazing. Down the stretch in the last few minutes, Thompson hit another trey as power forward Tim Oldenburg got a steal and two handed dunk and made a tip in. “We made it too easy for Frankfurt as we weren´t defending the way we should have. We gave them way too many open shots. It was like a training game for Frankfurt”, stressed ex Central Washington(NCAA2) German Jay Thomas. The Fraport Skyliners were shooting 76% from the field and 75% from outside while the BIS Baskets Speyer were shooting 38% from the field and 29% from outside. Frankfurt had the 9-4 rebound edge and had three turnovers while the BIS Baskets Speyer had six turnovers.

In the second quarter, the Fraport Skyliners kept up their dominating play and led by as much as 24 points and led 53-33 at the break. It really didn´t matter who was inserted into the game, that player contributed as ex Paderborner Marius Nolte demonstrated who played 139 Beko BBL games with the Fraport Skyliners and was able to score twice including an old school fingertip role. Kiel and Thompson also scored while the BIS Baskets Speyer were led by ex Skyliner Benedict Nicolay with a three pointer and Nigerian rookie Onochie Ochie that played at South Eastern Louisiana(NCAA) hit a few shots, but the Fraport Skyliners Juniors still led comfortably 45-23. Frankfurt was doing a good job staying focused despite having a huge lead and keeping up their defensive intensity. Ex Bremerhaven guard Garai Zeeb then made one of the prettiest plays of the night making a swift dribble behind his back which left Khobi Williamson wrong footed and finishing with a lay in while Nolte made a tip in. German Alexannder Kuhn tested his 31% three point percentage nailing a trey, but Frankfurt still led 51-26. Frankfurt then lost some focus as the BIS Baskets Speyer switched some things around in their game on defense keeping Frankfurt guessing and making more mistakes while the guests closed out the second quarter with a 7-2 run to trail Frankfurt only 53-33. In the run, the BIS Baskets Speyer were aided by jumpers by Meier and Woodmore and free throws by Williamson. “We played better at the end as we were hungrier than Frankfurt was. We did a better job containing Thompson not leaving him open”, added ex Walter Tigers Tuebingen German Jay Thomas who played 142 Beko BBL games. The Fraport Skyliners were shooting 54% from the field and 50% from the three point line while the BIS Baskets Speyer were shooting 38% from the field and 33% from the three point line. Frankfurt had the 24-13 rebound advantage and six turnovers while Speyer had nine turnovers.

In the third quarter, the BIS Baskets Speyer played a lot better cutting the Frankfurt lead down too as much as 13 points, but the Fraport Skyliners Juniors were able to break away again near the end of the third quarter leading 69-52. The BIS Baskets Speyer started off the third quarter with a 7-0 run surprising Frankfurt cutting the lead down to 53-40. In the run, the BIS Baskets Speyer were sparked by two buckets by Kuhn and a trey from Woodmore. The Speyer defense also was thrust up a few notches as they got some big plays forcing Frankfurt to bad shots and making a few blocks. However Frankfurt didn´t get intimidated by the run and went on their own 6-2 run to extend their lead to 59-42. Frankfurt wasn´t hitting as well from outside so they went to their even bigger strength inside getting baskets from Kiel and two from Richter. The only consistent offense that Speyer had was Woodmore who hit some shots cutting the Frankfurt lead down to 63-48 while Frankfurt continued to bang the ball inside as Nolte and Richter were work horses while Merz also made a step back shot. “We started off well as we were more focused and were playing with more intensity as we were scoring off our defense. However we were unable to match their physicality as they were crashing the boards and getting easy baskets inside. I am proud that we never gave up until the end”, added Virginia native DJ Woodmore. “We got off to a sloppy start, but kept together”, added Niklas Kiel. The Fraport Skyliners were shooting 46% from the field and 27% from the parking lot while the BIS Baskets Speyer were shooting 41% from the field and 29% from the parking lot. Frankfurt had the 38-23 rebound edge and eight turnovers while Speyer had 12 turnovers.

In the fourth quarter, the Fraport Skyliners Juniors were able to keep up their big lead as they led by as much as 23 points as the last reserves of the BIS Baskets Speyer were slowly leaving them. Frankfurt got some strong production from Oldenburg who hit a jumper and lay in after cutting in the lane and being served perfectly from Zeeb. Kiel did the same thing as Oldenburg this time being fed by Thompson while Zeeb connected on a floater. The BIS Baskets Speyer got support with a sweet Nicolay spin move and lay in and Woodmore steal and coast to coast sprint with Thompson breathing down his neck as Frankfurt still led 78-58. In the last few minutes German Konstantin Schubert made a running hook shot and Oldenburg scored for the second time in the lane cutting in while getting the pass from Zeeb. Lenny Okeke also gave his two cents to the scoring with a pretty lay in. The BIS Baskets Speyer closed out the game with a 5-2 run as 26 year old German Benjamin Kaufhold tested his 15,3% three point shooting connecting while Ochie made a steal and lay in and Nolte made the last bucket of the game. “This is the type of game where you have time to try to get better. We did that in the fourth quarter and played better”, added Niklas Kiel. “I tried to stay in attack mode at all times and don´t think that all the scoring is on my shoulders. I think with time my teammates will find their identity. We need to practice hard every week and build confidence and play as a team in games”, warned DJ Woodmore. After a long period, the Fraport Skyliners Juniors played gave up the second least points after Leipzig with 68 points and know this is a work in progress. “Our defense has had ups and downs. We practiced it much last week and have improved in last games and know it isn´t as good as last season, but its on a good way”, warned Tim Oldenburg. The Fraport Skyliners had five guys in double figures and led by Johannes Richter with 17 points. Travis Thompson contributed 16 points. Marius Nolte added 14 points in 14 minutes, Niklas Kiel had 13 points and Tim Oldenburg 12 points. The BIS Baskets Speyer were led by DJ Woodmore with 20 points. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 47% from the field and 23% from outside while the BIS Baskets Speyer shot 39% from the field and 30% from outside. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors easily won the rebound duel 49-29 and had 13 turnovers while Speyer had 15 turnovers.