The Fraport Skyliners Juniors are slowly hitting their peak as the playoffs are around the corner as playing your best basketball now is what teams strive for. They last lost on January 28th as they were clobbered at home by 20 points against the White Wings Hanau, but since then were riding a 6 game winning streak. They have been very solid defensively, but especially on offense have been very potent having scored more than 80 points in the last 3 games. Frankfurt had the home court advantage secured, but their opponent the Basketball Lowen Erfurt still had some serious business to take care of as they were fighting for home court advantage in the playoffs with Bavarian team Coburg. The 12-11 team was led by Tyseem Lyles and Guy Edi who came into the game averaging 37 of the team 81 points. The Basketball Lowen Erfurt came to Frankfurt having been stopped of their 7 game winning streak last weekend suffering a severe slip up at home against Speyer where they allowed 93 points. On a mild early spring evening the Fraport Skyliners Juniors met the always pesky Basketball Lowen Erfurt and exchanged fire power and loads of points, but lost some steam in the second half and had to play catch up basketball and just couldn’t get over the hump in crunch-time as Guy Edi powered the guests to the wild 95-90 win. ‘This Frankfurt team is really tough. They are young and complete. They are very physical and punched us a bit at the start, but we responded well as a team and all chipped in together and brought our A game. This game had a taste of the playoffs. We may of started the season bad, but were here now’, warned ex Gonzaga French player Guy Landry Edi (198-PF-1988, college: Gonzaga) The Fraport Skyliners Juniors as usual had their offensive arsenal on display, but didn’t defend as well as in the past weeks. ‘They hit their shots really well. We didn’t respond well enough to them. They used their individual class in better ways than we did. Edi was hard to defend and we couldn’t slow him down well enough’, said Fraport Skyliner Junior Philipp Hadenfeldt.

Jordan Samare at the FT line

Both teams came out firing away as the Fraport Skyliners Juniors did a fine job getting their bigs going as Jordan Samare scored and got good execution inside as ex Ehingen forward Nils Leonhardt scored. The Basketball Lowen also got an offensive rhythm going rapidly as Edi already showed his presence on the offensive board with a put back and New York native Tyseem Lyles hit a trey as did ex Jena guard Jan Heber as the game was tight with the 9-8 lead by the Fraport Skyliners Juniors. But The Fraport Skyliners Juniors then snuck away going on a quick 14-3 run as 2018 JBBL champion Nolan Adekunle supplied 11 points as he let it rain 3 three’s for the 23-11 Frankfurt advantage. Frankfurt were solid on defense, but were aided by the good looks of Erfurt that weren’t falling. But Erfurt didn’t lay down and surrender, but got back into the game as they got their three’s rocking as Lyles connected twice and Edi also hit cutting Frankfurt’s lead to 26-21. Onyejiaka and Lyles closed out the first quarter with three’s as the Fraport Skyliners Juniors had the very satisfying 31-24 advantage. Both teams had very high shooting percentages as the Fraport Skyliners sJuniors hot 56% from the field and 67% from outside while the guests shot 50% from the field and outside. Frankfurt had the 9-6 rebound edge including 5 offensive rebounds and only 2 turnovers while Erfurt had 4 turnovers. ‘The fans saw a high scoring game. Frankfurt did a good job getting easy baskets and keeping the lead despite many three’s from the opponent’, stated Fraport Skyliner guard Quantez Robertson.

Jan Heber from downtown

The Fraport Skyliners Juniors kept the lead, but near the end of the second quarter the Basketball Lowen Erfurt had caught up as the contest was dead locked at the break. Felix Hecker gave Frankfurt some energy right off the bat finding Alexander Richardson with the back door lay in and nailed a trey himself for the 36-28 lead, but the Basketball Lowen used their bench very well getting 5 points from young Latvian guard Otto Fahrenhorts to cut the Frankfurt lead to 36-31. But Frankfurt also used their bench well getting 5 points from veteran Marco Voeller who played 140 easyCredit BBL games including a pretty hook shot for the 41-33 lead, but even if Erfurt had to accept the punches, they also supplied the goods getting potent support from young German Lorenz Schiller who also supplied 5 points to cut Frankfurt’s lead to 41-38. Both Adekunle and Edi were on the bench while other role players were picking up the slack. Erfurt played very efficiently and smart taking good shots while Frankfurt sparkled with pristine ball movement. The Basketball Lowen Erfurt then went on a 8-3 run to lead 46-44. Edi scored all 8 Erfurt points showing how valuable he is for his team and that he can score at all levels from outside, mid range and on the drive. Frankfurt then responded with the prettiest play of the night as Hadenfeldt supplied the perfect alley op pass to Alexander Richardson who made the massive throw down. ‘That was set up nicely on the pick and roll. Alex rose well to the basket. Phil is definitely our best passer on the team and Marco our best passing big’, smiled ex Auburn (NCAA) great Quantez Robertson. Lyles then nailed a trey for the 49-46 Erfurt lead. Hecker followed with a trey to tie the game at 49-49. Edi and Bennet Schubert closed out the second quarter with free throws as the game was dead locked 51-51. ‘Voeller and Richardson did a good job on the offensive boards and with second chance points. Hecker also hit big shots. Frankfurt’s defense was aggressive but wansn’t communicating or helping well’, said Quantez Robertson. Both teams continued to shoot well as the Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 56% from the field and 50% from the three point line and had 18 rebounds and 7 turnovers while The Basketball Lowen Erfurt shot 49% from the field and 53% from the three point line and had 11 rebounds and 6 turnovers.

Marco Voeller from outside

The turning point came in the third quarter as the Basketball Lowen went on a run and would never trail again in the game. Adekunle repeated his good start of the first quarter in the third quarter scoring twice as his athleticism is difficult to contain. But The Basketball Lowen Erfurt sat down and watched the Schiller and Edi show as they scored 20 points in a row going on a 20-8 run to lead very comfortably 71-59. Schiller began showing how dangerous of a shooter he is with 3 three’s in a row including 2 4 point opportunities, but he connected only on one of them. Then came the fabulous entrance of Guy Edi who scored 11 points. He took a step back from his outside shooting and let his athleticism and moves take over. He scored whenever and from where ever on the court liking with spinning and cross over moves. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors had lost their offensive rhythm as the guests had upped their aggressiveness at both ends of the court. Frankfurt did a good job on the offensive board getting extra possessions, but not executing well. Frankfurt closed out the third quarter strong with a 11-6 run to trail only 77-70 after 30 minutes. In the run Frankfurt received valuable support from pass first guard Alvin Onyia who scored inside using his swiftness for 2 baskets and Adekunle demonstrated his inside out game with a three pointer and lay in. ‘We played great defense and shared the ball well and found the open man. They trapped the baseline so we had Schiller open in the corner and he just did what he does hitting three’s’, stated Guy Landry Edi ‘They went inside a lot and guys were open on the week side. We didn’t hit as well’, commented Philipp Hadenfeldt. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 47% from the field and 38% from the parking lot and had 28 rebounds and 11 turnovers while the Basketball Lowen Erfurt shot 54% from the field and 55% from the three point line and had 21 rebounds and 10 turnovers.

Guy Edi from the FT line

The Basketball Lowen Erfurt wanted to decide the game quickly and it looked like it might be after a few minutes, but the Fraport Skyliners Juniors weren’t done yet as they staged a last comeback but came up short in the fourth quarter. The guests came out aggressive and went on a 11-5 run to lead 88-75. Erfurt had their three’s on fire again as Fahrenhorts, Lyles and Edi connected while Frankfurt got a three pointer from Hecker and free throws by Adekunle. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors still had some energy left and cruised out on a 11-2 run to trail only 90-86 with 1,36 to play. In the run the Fraport Skyliners Juniors got key three’s by Adekunle and Hadenfeldt, but also got to the free throw line getting free throws from Hecker and Richardson. Schubert had huge misfortune missing 4 free throws which could have changed the game. Frankfurt heightened their defense and forced Erfurt to more 1-1 play which led to forced shots that hurt their execution. The BCM had been loud all night long as Erfurt’s estimated 70 fans gave great support, but after Richardson made a offensive rebound and put back, the fans were a bit more quiet. ‘We showed a lot of energy. We showed that we could turn around the game easily. We never gave up’, stressed Philipp Hadenfeldt. But Frankfurt just couldn’t get over the hump. With 43 seconds to play, ex Mercy (NCAA2) guard Tyseem Lyles put a dagger through Frankfurt’s heart with a three from the corner and 93-86 lead. After an Onyia lay in, Lyles added free throws for the 95-88 lead with time running out. ‘Frankfurt is a good team and made a run at home. We were a little tired. Even if they had a deeper bench, we fought until the end. We stepped up our defense and hit big shots’, stated Guy Landry Edi ‘We missed too many free throws. They hit big shots. It was the little things that cost us at the end’, warned Philipp Hadenfeldt. The Basketball Lowen Erfurt were led by Guy Edi with 32 points and Tyseem Lyles with 26 points while the Fraport Skyliners Juniors were led by Nolan Adekunle with 30 points while Felix Hecker added 17 points. The Basketball Lowen Erfurt shot 50% from the field and 53% from outside and had 28 rebounds and 15 turnovers while the Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 46% from the field and 38% from outside and had 38 rebounds and 16 turnovers.

Tags : GUY LANDRY EDI, BASKETBALL LOEWEN ERFURT, GERMAN BASKETBALL