After having to play their first 3 games on the road, the EPG Baskets Koblenz came home with at least one win in their bag. They presented their fans in their first home game against Rasta Vechta 2 with a spectacular finish winning by 2 points. Less than a week later the team was back in their living room and wanted to keep their winning streak alive against the VFL Sparkassen Stars Bochum who had begun the season out on the wrong foot losing their first 4 games. They had been near 80 points scored per game, but hadn´t found an identity on the defensive allowing 96 points per game or more twice. On a cool and rainy late October evening the EPG Baskets Koblenz welcomed Bochum to their always bright CGM arena and had to endure a Bochum rainfall of three´s as they hit 20, but at the end couldn´t make that extra one to force overtime as the EPG Baskets Koblenz escaped the Bochum three point frenzy winning a 95-92 nail bitter. “We came in strong with a good tempo but lost a bit as the game progressed. I think we were influenced a bit by their hot three point shooting. They hit deep three´s and we didn´t defend that well. We moved the ball well, were unselfish and weren´t dominated by the other team on the boards. I´m just happy we won. Every pro A game is tough”, warned EPG Baskets Koblenz captain Marvin Heckel (190-PG-1997) Bochum gave all they had, but just couldn´t get a few extra stops at the end to force the overtime. “We had a tough start but soon found to our game. I thought we played well for 35 minutes. We hit a lot of hail marry shots. We dominated the three, but still it was very difficult to play against their bigs. They were very tough and put much pressure inside on us”, stressed Bochum guard Niklas Geske.

Moses Poelking at the FT line

It had been a tough week for Bochum as they let go of 2 imports Oluwasesan Russell and Kalu Ezikpe and came to Koblenz with a 8 man rotation and youth players. A new sniper is already waiting in the wings who has Pro A experience with a team in south Germany, but won´t be made official until he has his work permit. The VFL SparkassenStars Bochum began with fire power as they sped out on a rapid 7-0 lead as American Matthew Strange who is a rookie and played at Southeastern Louisiana (NCAA) drilled home a trey as did German Vincent Friederici who has 11 BBL games on his resume. Koblenz seemed a bit dazed and couldn´t match the guests intensity. But that the EPG Baskets Koblenz can speed back from nothing is no secret as they did better than matching Bochum´s run, but scored 10 unanswered points to lead 10-7. In the run Koblenz spread the love around and got buckets from ex Wurzburg forward Rytis Pipiras, a lay in from top Pro A center Maurice Pluskota, a lay in from Marvin Heckel who was back early from his injury and a three from defensive specialist Trey Hall. Marvin Heckel looked as good as new as he made quick strides in his rehab. “It is crazy. Marvin came in and controlled the game instantly. He brings high quality and is very mobile. He makes everyone around him better and makes the quality of each player better”, stressed EPG Baskets Koblenz manager Thomas Klein. Koblenz continued to have the slight lead getting additional baskets from Heckel and Pipiras, but Bochum stayed with them getting baskets from Strange and Quinn Nelson. Nelson who played at Southwest Baptist University (NCAA2) came into the game shooting a dismal 22% at 5/22 and he had to break out sooner or later as the game was dead locked at 17-17. Koblenz allowed Bochum to play their run and gun game. Koblenz got superior work from their bigs Moses Poelking and Gabriel De Olveira as they made baskets inside for the 27-21 advantage. But Bochum just kept firing away and got 2 more three´s from ex Hagen guard Niklas Geske and Matthew Strange as the EPG Baskets Koblenz had the tight 29-27 lead after 10 minutes. “Bochum played their run and gun game. They had to play it. We weren´t playing bad, but they were shooting from all angles and hitting much. We rebounded well and did good transition”, stated Thomas Klein.

Vincent Friederici at the FT line

In the second quarter Bochum continued to let it fly and the EPG Baskets Koblenz couldn´t break the Bochum zone as the guests went into half-time with the 53-48 advantage. After a Koblenz turnover, Quinn Nelson connected on free throws to tie the contest. Koblenz then had a good phase getting back to back buckets from rookie AJ Plitzuweit and a trey from ex Rhondorf center Gabriel De Olveira to up the Koblenz lead to 34-29. But Koblenz simply had to many lapses on defense and just couldn´t cover the three point line well enough as they allowed Bochum to produce a 10-1 run to retake the 39-35 lead. Nelson added 5 points including a trey and sturdy German role player Emil Loch supplied another three pointer. Rytis Pipiras gave offensive stability with an offensive rebound and put back and Poelking free throws, but Bochum just continued to pour it on from outside as Loch connected again as did Nelson and Geske added a lay in as Pat Elzie and co were staring at a 47-39 lead by the guests. Hall added a trey but ex Trier German Killian Dietz made a massive dunk and Strange added a trey. Marvin Heckel ended the second quarter in style with an open three pointer, but the EPG Baskets Koblenz trailed by 5 points. “We didn´t play well enough against the zone and lost our rhythm. They continued to shoot very well from outside and we didn´t play our game with transition”, said Thomas Klein.

Marvin Heckel jumper

In the third quarter the EPG Baskets Koblenz rallied and even took the lead, but after 30 minutes Bochum led by 1 point as no team could get away from the other. In the first few minutes it was the superb play of inside/out player Rytis Pipiras who kept Koblenz in the game as he scored 3 buckets. But Koblenz couldn´t make any ground as German Vincent Friederici scored 5 points including another trey and ex TV Langen big man Tom Alte made free throws for the 60-52 lead. Koblenz then had a good offensive phase once again going on a 7-0 run getting stops and getting lay in´s from Hall and Moses Poelking and a three pointer from Plitzuweit to capture the lead back 61-60. Both teams now went back and forth as Bochum got additional three´s from Nelson and ex Hagen German Daniel Zdravevski to tie the game at 67-67. “It was a tight game. We weren´t able to play to our strengths, but let them play their strengths against us”, commented Thomas Klein. Both teams were playing at a high rate of intensity as they continued to trade baskets as Bochum got lay in´s from Dietz and Friederici as Koblenz displayed no 1-1 defense, but on offense got production from Malcolm Anderson with a lay in and a trey by Gabriel De Olveira. But Bochum had the last laugh as Dietz used his wide body to barge into the lane again and score ending the quarter with the Bochum 73-72 lead. “I thought we did a good job executing our plays. We weren´t only hitting crazy shots. Our zone worked. Our focus with the zone was to conserve our energy”, stressed Niklas Geske. “We tried different defensive options which we weren´t so used to. We let them play their game and weren´t prepared well enough against their zone. I felt our man to man worked better than the zone”, stressed Marvin Heckel

Niklas Geske with the drive

In the fourth quarter the EPG Baskets Koblenz could finally break free, but Bochum continued to rely on their three ball and came back making the last minutes very exciting. The EPG Baskets Koblenz jumped all over Bochum whirling a 11-0 run at them and capturing the lead back to lead 83-73. In the run, they once again showed how lethal their offense can be when executed properly. De Olveira made a trey while Maurice Pluskota made a tip in, but the real deal was Pipiras who continued to be that solid consistent scorer and leader nailing a three pointer and a reverse lay up. “We searched for the 1-1 game and penetrated well. We got the needed offensive rebounds and they missed shot”, said Thomas Klein. The guests continued to chip away at Koblenz and just wouldn´t give up getting another three pointer by Strange, a runner by Friederici and a lay in by Geske high off the glass to trail 89-82. Heckel didn´t only score, but also dished out an incredible 12 assists as he found Poelking for the lay in and commanding 91-83 lead with 1,51 to play. “We got out on transition and weren´t frustrated by their three´s. We tried pushing the ball each time before getting into our sets”, said Marvin Heckel Heckel also supplied 11 points for the double double. It made everyone in the CGM arena happy that he was able to come back so quickly from injury. “My rehab went very well. I received great support from all and I did my job. Maybe genetics helped with my quick return. I felt ready. It was a good return even if I made mistakes. I need to find game rhythm again. I think that I gave my teammates confidence with my return. Now guys could concentrate more on their own roles instead of doing many things”, commented Marvin Heckel One would have thought that that was enough of a cushion for Koblenz, but Bochum had other ideas. They continued to rely on their three´s as Nelson made 2 back to back and suddenly Koblenz only led 91-89 with 19 seconds to play. De Olveira made a big dunk for the 93-89 advantage with 8 seconds to go. Nobody had Nelson covered and he made another crazy three with 3 seconds to play. It was his eight three pointer of the game. He had only made 5 in the first 4 games. Pipiras made 2 free throws for the 95-93 lead. Niklas Geske let one last three to go, but it only saw the back board as the EPG Baskets Koblenz went to 3-2 and Bochum to 0-5. “We were lucky. Nelson hit many crazy shots. I really thought that every time he released a shot, it would go in. Lucky that Geske missed the last shot”, added Marvin Heckel “We fought hard until the end and never sunk our heads. We were close to tie. My last shot felt good, but it then sailed left. We gave it a good fight”, stressed Niklas Geske. The EPG Baskets Koblenz were led by Rytis Pipiras with 26 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. Moses Poelking added 17 points and Gabriel De Olveira 16 points while the VFL SparkassenStars Bochum were led by Quinn Nelson with 30 points while Vincent Friederici and Mathew Strange chipped in with 13 and 12 points. The EPG Baskets Koblenz shot 52% from the field and 38% from outside and had 45 rebounds and 13 turnovers while the VFL SparkassenStars Bochum shot 45% from the field and 44% from outside and had 34 rebounds and 12 turnovers.