David Muenkat

The Fraport Skyliners just keep winning and continue to find new ways of winning. Their last gem was playing like a non pro A team against the ART Giants Duesseldorf and taking a walk for 30 minutes and down 18 points, to finally waking up and posting their 8th win in a row in the 23-24 season. How much longer can they keep this impressive win streak going. Their defense continues to be their staple as despite allowing 25 points in the first quarter, at the end of 40 minutes it was only 65 points. But their next foe wasn´t a top team once again, but like Duesseldorf a 2-5 team that were riding a tough 5 game losing streak. They are another team like Duesseldorf that can produce a lot of points, but defensively still have a lot of room to improve. Bavarian team Nurnberg came into the game with an extra week of rest and had surely watched the Dúesseldorf game and wanted to be that first team to beat Frankfurt while the Fraport Skyliners didn´t want to produce such a pathetic start into the game like 1 week ago. 4 days before Turkey day for the Americans in America, both teams Americans wanted to go into the Thanksgiving week with a win, but only one team´s Americans had the satisfaction after 40 minutes as the Fraport Skyliners pulled out a hard fought 68-61 win over the Nurnberg Falcons BC. The Bavarian team had to play catch up baskedtball all afternoon and got over the hump in the fourth quarter, but couldn´t keep the lead as Frankfurt rallied in crunch-time. “We won the game for birthday boy Booker. We were good on the glass and took pride in getting rebounds. I felt the ball stuck too much to us today. We struggled shooting. Defense helped us at the end get this win”, stressed Fraport Skyliner David Muencat. After the loss a dejected head coach Virgil Matthews sat with little emotion and despite the fighting qualities was disappointed his guys couldn´t pull out the win: “We played hard but were a little down on the execution. We have to move the ball more consistently. We couldn´t buy a bucket in the first half. We played pretty well defensively and took care of the ball well. We were able to hold their offense in check a little with our offense”, stressed Nurnberg head coach Virgil Matthews.

Aiden Warnholtz at the FT line

The first quarter quickly showed what kind of game it would be as both team´s defenses got a good hold on the other team as there was less scoring and more misses. Frankfurt got on the board first with a Aiden Warnholtz lay in and David Muenkat free throws, but Nurnberg answered back rapidly to tie the game at 5-5 as a Tim Kopple floater and Courtney Alexander dunk who played college ball at Tennessee Tech got the guests going. Frankfurt then upped their offense going on a 10-4 run to lead 15-9 as they moved the ball better and got rewarded with three pointers from Birthday boy Booker Coplin (191-G-1997, college: Augsburg, agency: BIG) who turned 26 years old and a trey from 2018 NBBL champion Lorenz Brenneke. Ex JBBL MVP Justin Onyejiaka added a runner. Both teams were still feeling each other out and Nurnberg retaliated getting some burst of energy from Courtney Alexander with a hard dunk and New York native Anthony Gaines added a runner and free throws. Onyejiaka was on the spot again as he broke the tie with the final shot of the first quarter giving Frankfurt the 17-15 advantage. “The energy was high on both sides as both teams were getting settled. There was a lot of back and forth. We didn´t do a good job sticking to the game plan”, said David Muenkat. Both teams were shooting 40% from the field, but the biggest difference was from outside where Frankfurt was at 50% and Nurnberg at 0%. Frankfurt had the 10-8 rebound edge, but 4 turnovers to Nurnberg´s 2.

Matthew Meredith from outside

In the second quarter the Fraport Skyliners had their best offensive quarter as they produced 21 points and broke open the game leading by 10 points at the break. Frankfurt got an instant spark from Justin Onyejiaka who made free throws and then a steal and massive dunk for the 21-15 advantage. “Justin is great. He has a lot of tools that aren´t teachable. He is athletic and has great length for his size and is quick. His aggressive mindset helped us flip the switch at the start of the quarter”, said David Muenkat. Nurnberg guard Christian Feneberg then dropped a trey to stay on Frankfurt´s heels, but Frankfurt then roared out on a 10-3 run to lead 31-20. In the run Frankfurt was aided by Muenkat who added 7 clutch points and ex Schwenningen forward Jacob Knauf steered a three pointer to the run. Frankfurt´s offense was more unpredictable as the ball movement was crisp which helped achieve good shots. Frankfurt was playing fierce defense not allowing Nurnberg into their comfort zone and stopping penetration well. Down the stretch the guests got some vital baskets from Gaines with an offensive rebound and put back and ex Giessen guard Tim Kopple connected on a pretty floater high off the glass. But Frankfurt also kept executing keeping their lead comfortable as ex Carleton great Aiden Warnholtz made an off balance shot and ex Hanau guard Bruno Albrecht connected on a three pointer as Frankfurt led 38-28 at the break. “Our shots fell better and we got to the free throw line”, remembered David Muenkat. The Fraport Skyliners shot 45% from the field and 38% from the three point line and had 19 rebounds and 7 turnovers while the Nurnberg Falcons BC shot 32% from the field and 0% from the three point line and had 17 rebounds and 7 turnovers.

Tim Kopple at the FT line

In the third quarter it seemed like the Fraport Skyliners would decide the game early as they led as much as 15 points, but the Nurnberg Falcons BC had a comeback surprise in the last 2 minutes. The Fraport Skyliners jumped all over Nurnberg beginning with a 8-2 run to extend their lead to 46-31. In the run, Frankfurt spread out the love around as Jordan Samare did like Justin Onyejiaka in the second quarter getting a steal and going coast to coast for the dunk. Warnholtz added a lay in sneaking into the zone and then came the wow play of the game as David Meunkat surprised Nurnberg with a thunderous alley-oop dunk off a inbounds pass from Cameron Henry for the comfortable 46-31 lead. “That was planned. Teams scout you so you need counters. We practice this a lot in practice. I gave him the look and he gave me the nod and then we executed”, stated David Muenkat. The defensive pressure and stopping Nurnberg´s penetration allowed Frankfurt for the 15 point advantage. Nurnberg responded well from the big dunk getting a lay in from ex Jena forward Julius Wolf and a pull up jumper from Kopple and free throws from Wolf to trail only 49-38. Coplin and Henry took Frankfurt on a 4-0 run with free throws to lead 53-38. But how quickly a game can turn as Nurnberg showed they wanted to keep throwing punches with offensive execution as they closed out the quarter with a 9-2 run to trail only 55-47 after 30 minutes. After going 0/14 from outside, Nurnberg sparkled with 3 three pointers as ex Skyliner Matthew Meredith connected for 2 and German Nelson Okafor for the other. “Matthew is a super talented good offensive player. He always plays hard. We want to help him gain more self-confidence after his tough season in Leverkusen. He has been an unexpected plus for us this season”, commented Virgil Matthews. “We took our feet off the gas pedal at the end. Fatigue kicked in a bit. They began to hit shots. Basketball is a game of runs and it just happened they had theirs then”, expressed David Muenkat. “We hit some shots at the end, but in general we can´t let making shots effect the rest of our game. We have to play hard all the time regardless of what the offense is doing”, said Virgil Matthews. The Fraport Skyliners shot 41% from the field and 30% from the parking lot and had 27 rebounds and 8 turnovers while the Nurnberg Falcons BC shot 34% from the field and 17% from the parking lot and had 28 rebounds and 10 turnovers.

Bruno Albrecht from down town

The Nurnberg Falcons BC took the momentum of the raining of three´s at the end of the the third quarter and took it into the fourth quarter retaking the lead. The guests stormed on a 10-0 run to lead 57-55 and turned the arena a few decibles quieter. Meredith began the fourth quarter banging home his third three in a matter of a few minutes while Alexander added a lay in and free throw and Isaiah Sanders who played at Fairmont State (NCAA2) free throws. Nurnberg added intensity to their drives and just literally attacked and got rewarded with free throws. The body language also had turned a complete 180 degrees between the 2 teams. Frankfurt was thinking more instead of just playing and their offense stalled. Both teams traded leads in the next possessions as ex Indiana State (NCAA) sniper Cameron Henry scored from the corner and Lorenz Brenneke made a lay in while Nurnberg countered with Sanders free throws and a Kopple runner as Nurnberg still led 61-60. But that would be their last lead of the game as the Fraport Skyliners as usual took control in crunch-time as Warnholtz sunk 2 free throws. After a Meredith miss, Booker Coplin made free throws for the 64-61 lead. After another Meredith miss, Lorenz Brenneke scooped up the key offensive rebound which led to a beautiful Booker Coplin left handed lay in with the 66-61 lead with 32 seconds remaining. Nolan Adekunle secured the win with free throws. “A coach can only give you as much tips as possible, but at the end it´s 5 guys that have to figure it out on the court. Of course our experience of having won titles helps. We did whatever it took to win. Lorenz got a big offensive rebound and Booker had the confidence at the end to make the big bucket. It was crunch-time and he answered the call”, stressed David Muenkat. “We have to learn to finish games. We were a little tight. We made too many plays instead of just making the shots”, added Virgil Matthews. The Fraport Skyliners were led by David Muenkat with 13 points while Aiden Warnholtz added 11 points while the Nurnberg Falcons BC were led by Tim Kopple with 13 points while Isaiah sanders had 10 points. The Fraport Skyliners shot 36% from the field and 26% from outside and had 38 rebounds and 11 turnovers while the Nurnberg Falcons BC shot 33% from the field and 17% from outside and had 38 rebounds and 13 turnovers.