Devaughn Akoon Purcell is a 23 year old 196cm forward from Orlando, Florida playing his rookie season with the Bakken Bears (Denmark-Ligaen). He started his basketball career at Eastern Oklahoma State College before moving to Illinois St. (NCAA) in 2014 where he played 28 games: 12.8ppg, 5.6rpg, 1.3apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 46.8%, 3PT: 33.3%, FT: 77.1%. In his senior year he played 31 games: 14.2ppg, 5.1rpg, 1.9apg, FGP: 47.7%, 3PT: 26.0%, FT: 71.2%. He spoke to German Hoops after the 71-65 win against the Fraport Skyliners in Champions League play.

Devaughn congrats on the huge 71-65 win. It was the first win for the Bakken Bears in the Champions League. How good is it to get that monkey off your back?

Getting our first champions league win feels more than good. Hopefully it gives us the motivation to put a couple of wins together in a row.

The Bakken Bears had lost the first four games by an average of 23 points per game. Did the team go into this contest with a totally different mindset compared to the other games?

I’ll say we approached the game with Frankfurt with the mindset that we are better than we have been playing with.

How key was the five day rest period and preparation time? The Fraport Skyliners only had 48 hours to recover from a loss against BG Goettingen and then travel and play you in Denmark?

I wouldn’t use the rest period as the reason why we won. We practice all of those days and got better as a team.

Fraport Skyliner rookie Shavon Shields had six points in the first half. Was he a key figure in the team game plan to keep an eye on?

Yes. He’s a great player and I will say we did a good job on him defensively and it helped us out.

What was your impression of his game? He has shown in the German league that he is nearly unstoppable in the pain area?

He had great size. He seems pretty athletic. And from watching film he’s a great scorer.

The Bakken Bears had the 10 point lead at halftime. How key was this lead for the Bakken Bears having that momentum for the second half.

It was a good thing. But we approached the second half as of it was a total new game. And stuck to our defensive plans and pulled off the victory.

You made big buckets at the end of the first and second quarters. You stated you take what the defense gives you. Do you sense when your team needs you to step up?

Yes I feel as if they look for me in those situations and I have to step up to the plate and make plays.

In the third quarter the Bakken Bears led by as much as 15 points. What was key for holding the lead so well?

Play defensive and share the ball offensively.

In the fourth quarter Frankfurt made their run but Bakken held on to win. What was key for getting the win?

Eliciting plays down the stretch and making free throws.

What was your overall impression of the Fraport Skyliners. This is a team that will battle with a few teams for that fifth and last qualifying spot

I will say they are a good team. They have good size at all positions and they can do some great things in this league.

Thanks Devaughn for the chat.