It seemed like a basketball eternity since the last time the Fraport Skyliners Juniors were in their own living room. It had been exactly 47 days since their last game which in a way was happy and sad. It was glorious in that they won their last home game of 2021, but also sad that 8 year veteran Konstantin Schubert played his last home game as he had decided to finish his studies in Norway and interrupt his basketball career. In that time, Frankfurt have been up and down and living on the road and entered the game against BBC Coburg with a 7-7 record and in seventh place. Their opponent the Bavarian team had been playing some really amazing basketball having won four of their last five games and were riding a three game winning streak. The incredible thing about their winning streak was that they had won the three games by a combined total of five points and won three classic nail bitters against Orange Academy, Giessen and Hanau and the last two by only one point. The question was would they make it four close battles in a row or would the Fraport Skyliners Juniors put a dent in their winning streak? BBC Bayreuth didn’t have to make that exciting as their energy and intensity tore apart the Fraport Skyliners Juniors in the second half as they prevailed 96-85. The Bavarian club had massive performances from Princeton Onwas and Nicolas Wolf who combined for 48 points, but Spaniard Jose Carrasco (186-G-94) stole the show with 18 dimes, one assist prettier than the other. ‘We were lazy on defense in the first half, but in the second half we wanted it more as a team and played with a lot of energy. When we play with a lot of intensity then we are difficult to beat’, stressed BBC Bayreuth guard Jose Carrasco. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors had ups and downs in the game and just didn’t show up to defend. ‘We can’t give up 96 points. We gave up too much points at halftime and didn’t have enough intensity. We just were never able to find our rhythm on defense’, stated Fraport Skyliner Junior Bennt Schubert.

The Fraport Skyliners Juniors were without Alexander Richardson and Calvin Schaum while BBC Coburg were without Chris Wolf. German 20 year old Jordan Samare who has played 6 easyCredit BBL games made his comeback after being out many months and needed no time to get back into the swing of things. He was aggressive, got touches and executed scoring Frankfurt’s first 9 points. BBC Coburg got American Princeton Onwas going as he would be a menace all night long as he scored twice. Young 19 year old German Jannis Sonnefeld was also productive with 5 points. With the contest dead locked at 11-11, the Fraport Skyliners Juniors found some daylight going on a 8-1 run to lead 19-12. 33 year old veteran Marco Voeller took advantage of 19 year old Sonnefeld and scored twice including a nice left handed hook shot and Schubert also remained aggressive and scored twice. But Frankfurt was unable to keep the momentum allowing the guests to counter and come back. Big man Leon Bulic who has the Croatian/Austrain citizenship scored twice in the paint to cut Frankfurt’s lead down to 23-20. Both teams continued to have their runs as Frankfurt closed out a fine offensive spectacle with a 7-2 run to lead 30-23. Voeller scored again, Philipp Hadenfeldt used his speed to sneak inside for two points and Jordan Samare iced a trey at the buzzer. ‘It actually wasn’t in our game plan to get Samare going. But it was great that he came back so strong. He did a good job taking advantage of the mismatches’, stated Bennet Schubert.

In the second quarter both teams continued to play good offensive basketball as defense continued to take a back seat. BBC Coburg came out on fire and cut into the Frankfurt advantage trailing 32-28 getting inspired play inside as Bulic and Onwas scored. 22 year old German Nicolas Wolf who is the younger brother of Injured Chris Wolf made a put back. Wolf’s game got stronger and stronger as the game went on. He had developed nicely in Baunach playing 41 Pro A games, but then injured himself badly. It took sometime to get back, but he looked like new again. Wolf continued to get the ball and allowed his mid range game to shine as he scored two more buckets cutting Frankfurt’s lead to 34-33. Despite Frankfurt getting key baskets from Voeller and Meredith, BBC Coburg stayed on their heels as Princeton Onwas scored three times tying the game at 39-39. This guy was almost unstoppable. He could create for himself, but he was most dangerous when he got the ball close to the basket. The deny defense on him was nonexistent. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors were able to get away again momentarily as Hadenfeldt and Meredith nailed three’s for the 46-39 advantage, but continued to be lax on defense allowing easy baskets over and over. Tyrese Blount and Wolf scored big baskets only to be outdone from Marco Voeller who dropped a trey a few seconds before the break as Coburg trailed 50-47. ‘We were unable to close the door on them when we had the chance. We had big problems trying to stop Onwas. They scored too easily in the paint’, stated Bennet Schubert. ‘Both teams were shooting combined 6/18 from outside, but in the paint Frankfurt was at a crazy 85% and Coburg at 63%. Frankfurt had the slight 13-11 rebound edge but 9 turnovers while Coburg had 4 turnovers.

The Fraport Skyliners Juniors lost control of the game in the third quarter and BBC Coburg would never look back. Princeton Onwas continued his high percentage shooting scoring twice as he finished the game shooting 63% from the field. Carrasco made one of his prettiest passes of the night whipping a bullet pass over his shoulder. He finished with a double double 11 points and 18 dimes and 6 steals. ‘I have played for many teams in Spain and have learned a lot. I am most happy when I can pass the ball to everyone. I like that Magic Johnson saying that if a player scores, he is happy, but if a guy makes an assist then 2 are happy. But most important is that we got a road win’, stressed Jose Carrasco. Frankfurt kept the lead as Hadenfeldt hit a three and Schubert made a vital tip in, but they couldn’t control Onwas. He made two more lay in’s as he was a champion at picking his spots. BBC Coburg also got support from other players as Blount made a nice reverse lay up and Sonnefeld scored inside for the 59-58 Coburg advantage. Frankfurt would grab the lead back one last time as Schubert scored for the 60-59 advantage. BBC Coburg now took control. They had many different guys that stepped up. Wolf continued to do what he wanted as his mid distance game was on spot scoring twice and 2013 JBBL finalist Sven Lorber also scored a trey for the 70-62 lead. Frankfurt just didn’t have enough intensity on defense and couldn’t contain the Coburg bigs. Bulic scored again and made free throws and Carrasco finished the third quarter with a lay in and 75-67 visitiors lead. ‘We have played really well in the third quarter the last games and it really helped us. We were patient and did a good job finding the isolations’, stated Jose Carrasco. ‘They played with more energy. We didn’t have the energy we needed. If you don’t bring it for 40 minutes, then you have problems winning’, said Bennet Schubert. Both teams shot at a high percentage from the field at 60% while the three point shot was no factor. Frankfurt continued to have the 23-14 rebound edge, but coughed up the ball 16 times while BBC Coburg only had 4 turnovers.

The Fraport Skyliners began the fourth quarter with a bang erasing the guests 8 point lead with a 8-0 run to dead lock the game at 75-75. In the run, the Fraport Skyliners received massive support from Jordan Samare again with 5 points while Marco Voeller steered home 4 points as the big men did their jobs. But then came the turning point of the game as BBC Coburg exploded on a 13-0 run to lead 88-75. Their much enforced defense sparked their offense. BBC Coburg made 5 gigantic defensive plays with 2 blocks and 3 steals to help fuel the run. Carrasco led the defense with a block and two steals while Sonnefeld also made a block and Onwas a steal. Onwas also continued to provide his lethal offense scoring twice while they also got good support from Wolf, Lorber and Sonnefeld who also scored. BBC Coburg now held control of the game until the end. Meredith continued to carry Frankfurt as best as he could in the comeback with 8 points and two three’s, but the defense just couldn’t string along some stops. BBC Coburg continued to be in attack mode as Carrasco scored two more baskets as well as continuing to deliver incredible passes including one to Blount. But with time running out, the Fraport Skyliners Juniors saw themselves staring at a peak that was just to steep to climb. ‘We stepped up as a team and defended really well. We pressured really well and they felt uncomfortable with it. When we play good defense, it makes it easier for us to play transition’, stated Jose Carrasco. ‘We didn’t have the needed energy and self confidence to stop them. That run showed we weren’t there. We were in the game and had chances, but didn’t use’, them stressed Bennet Schubert. BBC Coburg was led by Princeton Onwas with 26 points. Nicolas Wolf added 22 points and Leon Bulic 15 points while the Fraport Skyliners Juniors were led by Jordan Samare with 25 points. Matthew Meredith added 18 points and Marco Voeller 17 points. BBC Coburg shot 58% from the field and 24% from outside and had 26 rebounds and 6 turnovers while the Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 53% from the field and 36% from outside and had 32 rebounds and 20 turnovers.