Three weeks ago, the season began so hopeful for the Fraport Skyliners Juniors as they began the season off well at home against TSV Troester Breitengussbach with a victory, but a few weekends later, the team was staring at a ugly 1-3 record as the 2-2 team Fellbach entered the BCM. In the previous 3 games, Frankfurt had stunk up the house in Leitershofen mustering only 50 points, played a hard fought game in Rhondorf, but ran out of energy in double OT and last weekend could never get over the hump playing catch up basketball and losing to FC Bayern Munich. It didn´t get any easier against new team Fellbach who had moved up from the Regionalliga. Despite having a 2-2 record, the Bavarian team is always focused and wanting to prove something. They had been up and down beating Speyer and Breitengussbach, but had lost to Oberaching and Leitershofen. It was a must win for the Fraport Skyliners Juniors as they didn´t want to move farther down in the standings. The Fellbach Flashers came out strong and controlled the game for the most part, but in the fourth quarter weren´t able to close out the game as Frankfurt fought back and relied on their weapons and team play to grind out an ugly 87-82 win. “It was another one of those games where we showed resilience something we hadn´t shown in the last games. We showed more energy and fighting spirit. We did a good job putting all our weapons into use and played good defense”, stressed Fraport Skyliner Junior Trevian Bell (201-G/F, college: Lewis). The SC Fellbach Flashers played a well rounded game, but just couldn´t slam the door on Frankfurt. “This was a tough loss. We had control of the game and felt we steered it well, but lost control at the end. We definitely played better than the last games, but we should of won this game”, stressed SC Fellbach Flasher Zaire Thompson.

Justin Onyejiaka jumper

The Fraport Skyliners Juniors had Justin Onyejiaka back who had been missing the first few games because of injury. Frankfurt got their offense rolling right away as ex Wurzburg Forward Nils Leonhardt and Illinois native Trevian Bell connected for three´s. The Bavarian team also got their offense going getting a quick lay in by ex Koblenz center Brian Butler and a trey from sniper Lars Berger. Frankfurt continued to execute well getting back to back buckets from Onyejiaka and Bell for the 10-5 lead. Fellbach struck back with a lay in from Pro A veteran Andreas Kronhardt who has 244 games on his account and a trey from 20 year old German/Bulgarian Nikola Jekov to trail 12-10. It was a pretty even game as both teams executed well, but it felt like Frankfurt was a bit stronger. Frankfurt continued to execute very well finding Bell who scored twice and Jordan Samare made a massive throw down getting the perfect pass from Albert Schweitzer winner Philipp Hadenfeldt for the 20-13 lead. Frankfurt´s offense was just flowing better as their inside out game was giving Fellbach problems and their work on the boards was better. German Nik Schlipf who played at 2 NCAA 2 schools connected on a trey late in the first quarter as Fellbach trailed 20-16 after 10 minutes. “Our starts this season have been a problem. We always have to fight back. We had problems controlling Bell and Samare. Samare can do everything and is so athletic”, stated ex Fordham (NCAA) guard Zaire Thompson. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 47% from the field and 25% from outside and had 9 rebounds and 3 turnovers while the SC Fellbach Flashers shot 44% from the field and 33% from outside and had 7 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

Andreas Kronhardt at the FT line

In the second quarter the SC Fellbach Flashers made their move coming back and leading by 10 points at the break. Andreas Kronhardt began the second quarter with a turn around shot while Dusan Nikolic used his quickness and made a pretty finger tip roll as Frankfurt led 22-18. Frankfurt kept up the offensive pressure with a Hadenfeldt three pointer and beautiful Samare dunk on transition getting the perfect dime from Hadenfeldt, but they couldn´t get stops. Fellbach got big support from the bench from Schlipf who drained another trey as did Zaire Thompson from outside. After a Butler turn around shot, Fellbach suddenly led 28-27. Fellbach upped their intensity at both ends and played smarter and made wiser decisions on offense. Fellbach took advantage of their bench with key baskets and Frankfurt played lax 1-1 defense. Justin Onyejiaka would give Frankfurt the lead back one more time 30-28 with a three pointer. Fellbach then closed out the second quarter in very fine fashion with a 15-5 run to lead 43-33 at the break. The Bavarian team got 3 clutch three´s from Kronhardt, Schlipf and Berger, but also got lay in´s from Thompson and American Andre Gillette who played at Fairleigh-Dickinson (NCAA). “We upped our intensity at both ends and played better team basketball. We have no super stars on the team so playing team ball is important. We have to keep working on that”, added Zaire Thompson. The SV Fellbach Flashers shot 53% from the field and 54% from the three point line and had 19 rebounds and 5 turnovers while the Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 37% from the field and 22% from the three point line and had 16 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

Nils Leonhardt at the FT line

In the third quarter the Fraport Skyliners Juniors fought hard and got close but just couldn´t get over the hump and trailed by 5 points after 30 minutes. Frankfurt got 2 easy lay in´s from Jordan Samare, but couldn´t make any ground as Kronhardt was a beast with a put back and Lars Berger snuck inside with a lay in and 49-40 Fellbach advantage. Frankfurt just couldn´t make any ground as both teams were executing as Leonhardt and Kronhardt scored, but Fellbach still led comfortably 51-42. But sometimes things can turn around so quickly as bang Frankfurt received back to back three´s from Samare and Hadenfeldt and suddenly Fellbach led only 51-48. Frankfurt just couldn´t get over the hump as they executed well, but Fellbach got a great game from Zaire Thompson who was an offensive force hitting shot after shot keeping Fellbach ahead 58-53. Bell made a huge pull up jumper for Frankfurt to trail 58-55, but the guests always had an answer as Berger nailed a deep three. Frankfurt wasn´t guarding the three point line well enough. Felix Hecker who is still looking for his three point consistency drilled home a trey, but Kronhardt had an answer again with a trey as Fellbach led 64-59 after 3 quarters. “We continued to play good team basketball and found good options. But we need to be able to get an even higher lead to be able to win games on the road”, commented Zaire Thompson. “We couldn´t get stops. They did a good job exploiting mismatches. We need to make right adjustments and play team defense and not 1-1 defense”, commented Trevian Bell. The SV Fellbach Flashers shot 52% from the field and 45% from the parking lot and had 25 rebounds and 7 turnovers while the Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 43% from the field and 30% from the parking lot and had 25 rebounds and 7 turnovers.

Lars Berger from outside

The fourth quarter was a dog fight as the Fraport Skyliners Juniors began with a bang with a trey from Philipp Hadenfeldt to trail 64-62, but as always the beast Andreas Kronhardt made an easy lay in as he once again got a perfect pass this time from Greek player Charalampos Sikalidis. A guy like Kronhardt should give every player a free meal at the end of the season, because of how well his teammates feed him for easy buckets. “Andreas is one of our best players. We need him badly. His scoring helps us. He is very versatile and when he scores our offense works”, stressed Zaire Thompson. Ex Kronberg center Florian Dietrich made a tap in and free throw to cut Fellbach´s lead to 67-65, but once again it was Thompson who made a lay in to keep Frankfurt from getting over the hump. It seemed like Frankfurt may never get over the hump again after a Gillette basket as Frankfurt trailed 71-65. But Frankfurt continued to fight getting a big three from Hadenfeldt and lay in by Trevian Bell as the game was dead locked 71-71. Fellbach continued to battle and gained the lead back again with consecutive buckets from Brian Butler to lead 77-73. But If Butler can do it so can Jordan Samare as he scored back to back baskets to tie the game again 77-77. Frankfurt then took the lead and would never give it up again. Onyejiaka and Hadenfeldt dropped free throws for the 81-77 advantage. Berger made a lay in with 49 seconds as Frankfurt led 81-79. Bell then made a huge jumper from the left wing to lead 83-79. “I have a lot of experience. I never let lesser touches or less shots taken in some minutes affect me. I got a good pass from Hadenfeldt and the shot felt good from the mid range”, added Trevian Bell. Thompson made another giant clutch three from the top of the key to cut Frankfurt´s lead to 83-82 with 15 seconds to play. “I have a bigger role on the team. I worked a lot on my game last summer and improved my shot. I have more confidence taking big shots”, stated Zaire Thompson. But Trevian Bell closed out the game with 4 free throws. “This was our best quarter of the game. We are learning more and more how to use our weapons best and how to coexist. We rebound and defended well. We are starting to learn how to balance our offense and defense”, warned Trevian Bell. “Our transition defense and their three´s hurt us at the end. Also their easy lay up´s and offense rebounds hurt us”, stated Zaire Thompson. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors were led by Justin Onyejiaka and Jordan samara with 17 points a piece while Trevian Bell and Philipp Hadenfeldt chipped in with 15 points a piece. The SV Fellbach Flashers were led by Andreas Kronhardt with 20 points while Zaire Thompson had 19 points and lars Berger 15 points. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 46% from the field and 32% from outside and had 34 rebounds and 9 turnovers while the SV Fellbach Flashers shot 53% from the field and 42% from outside and 30 rebound and 13 turnovers.