The middle of the week days are usually reserved for the international club games where a Brose Bamberg is usually battling away at home against a Real Madrid or CSKA Moscow´s or are tingling around somewhere in Europe at a Macabbi Tel Aviv or FC Barcelona, but this week there were also other teams in action from the easyCredit BBL, but also in the NBBL there was a make up game between two teams Eintracht Frankfurt/Fraport Skyliners and Team Urspring that could be classified at the moment belonging to the top basketball schools as in the last years both teams have developed big talents like Johannes Voigtmann, Danilo Barthel and now Isaac Bonga while Team Urspring have brought out talent after talent like Lucca Staiger, Christian Standhardinger, Gavin Schilling or Mahir Agva that played his first BBL game at age 16 and now plays for the Fraport Skyliners and is fighting for minutes from head coach Gordon Herbert. Team Urspring came to Frankfurt with 5 NBBL titles in their baggage and only a disappointing 4-6 record this season, but  a lot of self confidence as they had dismantled TV Langen for the second time this season holding them to only 53 points while Eintracht Frankfurt/Fraport Skyliners were reeling off a hard 76-57 loss to ratiopharm Ulm where all their stars didn´t suit up. The club played a lot of their bench players giving them abundant minutes and the club fought with heart cutting down a double digit lead to six points with four minutes to go, but then ran out of gas giving up a 15-2 run to end the game. Both Eintracht Frankfurt and Team Urspring were motivated to finish the season strong as the home team had already qualified for the playoffs while the guests need a good run in the last games to reach the promised land. Team Urspring controlled the first quarter, but Eintracht Frankfurt improved their play in the second and third quarters and were on the same level as the guests, but lost control in crunch-time as the Tekka And Noeres Show took control extending their losing streak to two games losing to Team Urspring 71-65.

After the game an old known face of the region Sebastian Barth who played many years in Langen was coaching only his second NBBL game was content about the win, but also felt that his team has a realistic chance of reaching the NBBL playoffs. “We defended long phases with heart, but we didn´t have consistent ball movement in the game. It was a hard fought game, but in the end the three pointer by Patrick Teka was big and we did a good job forcing them to difficult shots. I think that this win will give us added self confidence to reach the playoffs. I think we need at least one win against either ratiopharm Ulm or Ludwigsburg”, expressed Team Ursping head coach Sebastian Barth. Eintracht Frankfurt 17 year old swing man Oliver Babitsch had his best game in the NBBL netting 19 points and was disappointed that the club couldn´t get the easy things done on the court and not surprised that he could deal with the responsibility having to take over for the top players out of action. “We didn´t play for 40 minutes and had too many up and down phases. We woke up too late in the first quarter. The second half was a lot better. The little things killed us at the end. Team defense was good and we played with a lot of heart, but our one on one defense wasn´t good. In Hanau, I was a player that my team relied on to have good games. So needing to step up now was nothing new for me”, expressed Oliver Babitsch.

For the second straight game in a row, Eintracht Frankfurt were handicapped as a majority of their star players were absent like Isaac Bonga, Cosmo Gruehn and Niklas Pons. Konstantin Schubert who had been absent last weekend against ratiopharm was back in the lineup which helped the dynamics on offense. Team Urspring got off to a rising start leading 4-0 as point guard Patrick Teka who was averaging 6,3apg coming into the game scored and team top scorer Noah Kamdem connected on a hook shot. Eintracht Frankfurt got on the board with a Leon Pullen lay in on the fast break, but had to watch as 15 year old German Jason George connected on a trey for the 7-4 lead. Team Urspring was doing a good job in the first minutes being present on the offensive glass hauling down some offensive rebounds and Kamdem muscled one down and made the put back for the 11-8 lead. Konstantin Schubert then got his first bucket making a floater cutting the Team Urspring lead to 11-10. After both teams had found their rhythm, came the first run of the contest as Team Urspring sped away on  a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 20-10. In the run, the club stayed active in the paint drawing three fouls as Teka, Noeres and George hit free throws. Teka also dropped a trey. Eintracht Frankfurt closed out the first quarter strong with a 7-3 run to trail only 23-17. In the run, they got a lay in by Pullen, 16 year old energy spark plug Aris Letsios hit a jumper and Oliver Babitsch  excited the crowd with a buzzer beating three. Eintracht Frankfurt was shooting 30% from the field and 14% from outside while Team Urspring was shooting 38% from the field and 67% from outside. Team Urspring had the slight 12-11 rebound edge and both teams had two turnovers apiece.

The second quarter belonged to Eintracht Frankfurt as they continued to chip away at the Team Urspring lead and simply played with more intensity and got good support from their role players. One of these was 15 year old Tim David Schradt who was only playing his second NBBL game scored on transition and Letsios scored on a lay in to cut the Team Urspring lead to 25-21. The first quarter buzzer beater from Babitsch must of carried over into the second quarter as the team was playing better on both ends of the court and went on a 9-2 run to take their first lead of the game 30-27 as they had the momentum. In the run, the home team got vital support from the young kids Schradt and Letsios with a jumper and coast to coast run and lay in and Babitsch connected on another three pointer. After Letsios and Kamden traded buckets deadlocking the game at 32-32, Eintracht Frankfurt closed out the second quarter strong going on a 8-3 run to lead 40-35 at the break. Eintracht Frankfurt played with a lot of intensity in the last two minutes as Schubert scored inside using his arsenal of fakes to his advantage, Babitsch also finished strong in the paint and Fabien Bender nailed a clutch trey leading his team into half-time. “We let up in the second quarter and lost intensity on defense”, stressed Team Urspring head coach Sebastian Barth. Eintracht Frankfurt was shooting 39% from the field and 30% from the three point line while Team Urspring was shooting 35% from the field and 33% from the three point line. Eintracht Frankfurt had the slim 22-21 rebound lead and five turnovers while Team Urspring had seven turnovers.

Both teams came out in the third quarter content to defend better and did as all of a sudden both team´s offense´s were locked up well as the game became more of a defensive battle. Team Urspring started off the second half with a 8-4 run closing in on the Eintracht Frankfurt´s lead slimming it down to 44-43. They were hurting Eintracht Frankfurt in the paint as Moritz Noeres made a hook shot, Kamdem got an offensive rebound and made the put back, Arthur Gutmann also scored in the lane and George scored on the fast break. Team Urspring was playing with more intensity than Frankfurt forcing them to lose their rhythm of the second quarter and Kamdem was owning the paint. Despite the Team Urspring come back run, Eintracht Frankfurt didn´t lose the lead as they continued to defend hard and got important baskets form Schubert and Letsios to preserve the lead. George and Kamdem also hit key buckets down the stretch, but Eintracht Frankfurt had the 50-48 advantage after 30 minutes. “The third quarter was a good defensive game. We got stronger again and had good pick and roll defense and kept Schubert out of the game”, stressed Sebastian Barth. Eintracht Frankfurt was shooting 35% from the field and 25% from the parking lot while Team Urspring was shooting 35% from the field and 22% from the parking lot. Team Urspring had the 35-30 rebound edge, but 12 turnovers while Eintracht Frankfurt had nine turnovers.

The fourth quarter was tight, but Team Urspring had the better nerves, better decisions and better shooting accuracy which propelled them to the victory. Yannick Olma tied the game at 50-50 making a hook shot. Letsios then made one of two free throws giving Eintracht Frankfurt the 51-50 lead. Team Urspring then got the lead back 54-51 on Nill Bergmann free throws and a typical inside basket from Kamdem. Eintracht Frankfurt then got a burst of energy from the two blondes Schubert and Babitsch who continued to score inside giving Eintracht Frankfurt the 55-54 lead. Patrick Tekka then used his overall experience and smart play scoring inside and getting to the free throw line twice keeping Team Urspring ahead 61-56 as they had capped off a 7-0 run. Babitsch and Noeres then swapped back to back trey´s as Team Urspring still led 64-59 with two minutes to play. Eintracht Frankfurt had one last gasp of energy going on a brutal 6-0 run to recapture the lead 65-64. In the run, they got big production from 17 year old Beat Weichsler who snuck inside for a quick two points, Babitsch hit a trey and Alvin Onyia made a seemingly impossible finger tip roll in in traffic. Then came the turning point of the game as offense led too great defense as Teka buried a three pointer for the 67-65 lead and then on the next Eintracht Frankfurt possession, Moritz Noeres blocked Oniya on the penetration as he wasn´t allowed through the lane for a second time in a row. Noeres and Kamdem closed out the contest with consecutive free throws. “Noeres woke up at the end. He didn´t have the necessary positive body language the last games, but he showed in crunch-time just how important he can be. Tekka made good decisions and brought Kamdem into the game well”, added Team Urspring head coach Sebastian Barth. “Our small players were hung up on the blocks leaving Teka wide open. We should of used more energy in crunch-time. We were missing the needed energy to get the win”, stressed Oliver Babitsch. Team Urspring was led by Noah Kamdem with 20 points and nine rebounds. Patrick Teka had 15 points and Moritz Noeres added 11 points and seven rebounds. Eintracht Frankfurt was led by Oliver Babitsch with 19 points. Konstantin Schubert contributed 12 points and nine rebounds and Aris Letsios had 11 points. Team Urspring shot 36% from the field and 29% from outside while Eintracht Frankfurt shot 37% from the field and 22% from outside. Team Urspring won the rebound duel 47-38 and had 13 turnovers while Eintracht Frankfurt had 12 turnovers.