After a tough loss at Orange Academy, the Dragons Rhondorf didn´t have much time to digest the loss as the next incredible team filled with Germany´s next talented young players arrived in the Dragons Dome with Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg. Dragons fans couldn´t have asked for a better showdown as they saw the 2 best teams in the Pro B south with identical 5-1 records. Ludwigsburg is a young, but experienced team that have played together for years combined with an ambitious and knowledgeable young coach with Khee Rhee. The Dragons Rhondorf have demonstrated all season long that they are a very lethal offensive team scoring 94 points on average, but relying on shoot outs won´t get them the Pro B title as they still haven´t found a defensive identity yet as they allowed 90 points per game. Ludwigsburg were also an offensive powerhouse, but defended better than Rhondorf. The Dragons Rhondorf had to be prepared to remain undefeated at home. Once again their defense wasn´t consistent and 1-1 defense horrible, but when it counted most in crunch-time, they stuck together and gave all they had at both ends and won a real nail bitter 97-95. It wasn´t pretty, but a win is a win. “We were resilient tonight. When they took the lead in the fourth, we found a way to come back and play defense and finish the game. Every guy that touched the court made an impact. We all had each others back on defense at the end”, stressed Dragons Rhondorf center Avery Sullivan (203-F/C-1999, college: Lamar). Even if Ludwigsburg moved to 5-2, one can´t forget that the team has an average of 18,5 years of age. After the loss Ludwigsburg head coach Khee Rhee was still proud how his boys played. “This was a high scoring game that was played at a high intensity. I think this was the best game that the Pro B has seen this season. The reason we play young guys is so they can play possession by possession and not hang their heads. The way my guys played for 37 minutes was admirable. We never gave up and always came back. This was the first time this season that we had to come backl”, stressed Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg head coach Khee Rhee.

Dominykas Pleta at FT line

Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg were without Lenny Anigbata while the Dragons Rhondorf were without Jekabs Beck and Tyrese Blunt. Both teams didn´t shy away from using their offensive weapons right away. Ludwigsburg had the quick 7-3 lead showing their inside out game as ex Erfurt forward Dominykas Pleta and Ognjen Veljkovic scored inside and ex Dragon Eslie Edigin nailed a trey. But Rhondorf didn´t let down quickly tying the game at 9-9 as big men Leon Bulic and Avery Sullivan scored inside. Ludwigsburg made their presence quickly on the offensive glass getting extra offensive rebounds. The teams would trade leads often and Pleta was in attack mode from the get go and would go on to have his best scoring game in the Pro B. The Dragons Rhondorf tried to get away going on a 7-0 run to lead 20-13 as Sullivan and 17 year old Janne Muller hit three´s, but Ludwigsburg punched back with a 10-2 run to lead 23-22. In the run the guests got super production from young Dutch man Mock Icke with 2 baskets inside, a reverse lay up by Pleta and a clutch three points by young German Luca Stuebel with the 23-22 advantage. But ex Orange Academy guard Marko Rosic had the last laugh with a lay in and 24-23 Rhondorf lead. “We played too fast at the start. When we found to our game, we got rolling. We also had problems on the boards. We took it personal and did a better job in the second half”, stated Avery Sullivan. The Dragons Rhondorf shot 50% from the field and 38% from outside and had 10 rebounds and 6 turnovers while Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg shot 42% from the field and 25% from outside and had 12 rebounds and 3 turnovers.

Kelvin Omojola at the FT line

In the second quarter the game would continue to be at even eye level except for the last minutes where the Dragons Rhondorf tried to pull away, but the guests fought back to trail only by 2 points at the break. There were 10 lead changes. Pleta continued to do his thing attacking the paint and scoring at ease while Omojola and Bulic also scored inside, but Ludwigsburg led 29-28. The Dragons Rhondorf then found some daylight getting away on a 10-2 run to grab their biggest lead of the contest at 38-31. In the run the Dragons got vital support from Texas native Avery Sullivan who showed his beast qualities with 2 buckets including a dunk while Bulic also scored inside and Croatian sniper Matje Silic nailed a trey. Rhondorf had upped their intensity and Badu Buck did a great job with the playmaking while Ludwigsburg were too hectic in their offensive sets which can happen with youth. Ludwigsburg stayed sharp and continued to chip away at the Rhondorf lead continuing to attack the paint. Abdulhay Komurkara, and Nico Santana scored while guard Stuebel got an offensive rebound and put back that was totally unacceptable for the Dragons giving up to trail 41-37. Aeneas Jung finally found his game nailing a trey and lay in while Pleta was in the zone all game long getting a lay in and dunk getting Ludwigsburg over the hump and 46-45 lead. “He is very mobile and a solid big. We did all we could to contest him, but he did whatever he wanted against him. We will be better prepared next time”, warned Avery Sullivan. Despite Jung hitting a trey on the last possession, it wasn´t enough to keep the lead as Muller and Sullivan added key buckets for the 52-51 Dragons lead at half-time. “We knew going in that they had the most possessions in the league. We knew it would be a back and forth game. We knew that they would make their shots so we just had to keep fighting and stay with them”, added Avery Sullivan. The Dragons Rhondorf shot 51% from the field and 31% from the three point line and had 18 rebounds and 7 turnovers while Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg shot 49% from the field and 21% from the three point line and had 22 rebounds and 6 turnovers.

Nico Santana from outside

The contest continued to be a close affair, but the Dragons rhondorf controlled the third quarter and were up by 6 points after 30 minutes. After Junga and Bulic traded baskets, Pleta continued to be up to his deadly execution scoring inside as Ludwigsburg led 55-54. The Dragons Rhondorf then upped their defensive intensity and finally showed some consistency getting stops with 4, but could only get a three pointer and offensive rebound and put back from Leon Bulic to lead 59-55. The three´s weren´t falling so both teams attacked the paint with consistency. Ludwigsburg got baskets from Veljkovic and Edigin while Rhondorf got buckets from Omojola and Muller to lead 63-59. Muller had his break out game in the Pro B with 18 points, but something his teammates expected from him. “That performance was no surprise for us. He works so hard in practice. It was only a matter of time. He stepped up big time”, stated Avery Sullivan. That 4 point lead was quickly shaved down to 1 point after Stueble made 3 free throws. But Rhondorf closed out the third quarter with force with a 7-2 run to lead 72-66. In the run, Rhondorf produced some stops and got lay ins from Omojola and Buck and free throws from Silic and Sullivan. “When we are able to get stops and get in transition, then we can be strong. We did that and kept them on their heels”, warned Avery Sullivan. “We attacked them over and over in the paint, but with some match ups, those baskets weren´t that easy to get. The tempo is so high that it makes it difficult to make the lateral movement on defense. We tried to keep a high tempo to make them tired”, commented Khee Rhee. The Dragons Rhondorf shot 50% from the field and 25%2 from the parking lot and had 28 rebounds and 10 turnovers while Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg shot 45% from the field and 15% from the parking lot and had 31 rebounds and 12 turnovers.

Avery Sullivan lay in

n the fourth quarter, both teams had the chance to decide the game, but instead it was the Dragons Rhondorf that had to fight back at the end get over the hump and let the Sullivan and Omojola show take over. It seemed like the Dragons Rhondorf had found Ludwigsburg´s number continuing to execute in the first minute grabbing the 79-72 lead as Sullivan nailed a beautiful old school hook shot, Muller made a lay in and ex Cologne German Antonio Pilipovic hit a trey. Rhondorf was on top, because they were getting support from many sides while Ludwigsburg seemed to only have a Pleta who could make a bucket blindfolded on this night. But they also had their 2 captains and main leaders Santana and Jung who began to contribute getting some baskets to trail only 79-77. After a Bulic step back jumper, Ludwigsburg made their last run of 11-2 to lead 88-33. In the run, the guests as usual got heavy production with Pleta who scored twice, and and Edigin made a thunderous dunk. The guests held the momentum as the Dragons 1-1 defense was nonexistent and now wanted to slam the door shut on the dragons with a Jung runner, Santana and Pleta free throws to lead 93-87 with2 minutes to play. “We were ok. We practice those situations all the time in practice being down by 5 points. We just stayed calm and fought back”, stated Avery Sullivan But the Dragons didn´t give up. Buck came up huge with a trey while Kelvin Omojola fed Sullivan with the perfect dime for the alley-oop dunk as Rhondorf trailed 93-92 with 1,30 to play. “Avery and I work on the alley-oop play. I had him in the corner of my eye”, said Kelvin Omojola. After a stop, Sullivan made free throws to give Rhondorf the 94-93 lead back. Esli Edigin came up big with a lay in with 47 seconds to play. Rhondorf that executed again as the Sullivan-Omojola show continued as Omojola found Sullivan wide open inside for the 96-95 lead. Omojola could of shot, but instead found the better positioned Sullivan for the winning basket with a few seconds to play. “I could of shot it, but I read the defense and saw him a mile away. He was the 99% basket”, warned Kelvin Omojola. “Kelvin and me are close on and off the court. Our chemistry showed. He is unselfish and just wanted to make the winning play”, expressed Avery Sullivan. Rhondorf then buckled down and forced Santana to a turnover and Sullivan closed out the victory with a free throw. “We had no communication on defense. Young guys get hectic. We didn´t execute the way we should of this. This was a learning lesson”, stated Khee Rhee. The Dragons Rhondorf were led by Avery Sullivan with 34 points and 12 rebounds. Janne Muller added 18 points and Leon Bulic 16 points while Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg were led by Dominykas Pleta with 29 points and 16 rebounds while Nico Santana added 16 points and Esli Edigin 15 points. The Dragons Rhondorf shot 50% from the field and 29% from outside and had 35 rebounds and 13 turnovers while Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg shot 48% from the field and 145from outside and had 40 rebounds and 13 turnovers.