More than 2 months ago the Wurzburg U-19 team suffered a brutal 19 point loss at home to the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners, but since then have player superb basketball having won 6 games in a row. Back on the second game day Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners played incredible defense allowing only 2 three´s and forcing Wurzburg to a mediocre 31 turnovers. Now it was time for the revenge game in Frankfurt a week before Christmas. It would be the perfect Christmas present for the Bavarian squad to come into Frankfurt´s living room and come out with a victory. Frankfurt finally had their young German talent Ivan Crnjak who had recently returned from an injury and played his third NBBL game of the season and brought a solid 19,0ppg into the game. But Wurzburg had no chance in the return game as Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners showed a powerful consistent offensive and defensive effort for 40 minutes as Wurzburg was unable to slow down the many scoring options that Frankfurt always displayed. “We dominated the game. We knew what we had to do to be successful and did it for 40 minutes. We wanted to take Steinbach out of the game and did a good job. Overal it was a great team effort especially on defense”, stressed Dusan Nikolic (191-PG-2005). Wurzburg had problems with the three ball and just couldn´t find consistency on offense and continue to strike back when Frankfurt gave blows. “The game was decided after a few minutes. I think we would have played better had we not been intimidated. There is a big difference between Frankfurt and Wurzburg. You saw the university kids against the street kids”, stressed Wurzburg head coach Alex King.

Ivan Crjnac at the FT line

Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners showed right off the bat to what they are capable on offense as they exploded for 31 points in the first quarter. Before anyone had noticed Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners were up 11-2. Young German universal genius Ivan Crnjac got going rapidly with 6 points including a 4 point play while all rounder Leif Zentgraf hit a trey and Dusan Nikolic scored on a drive. Frankfurt´s offense was rolling with fast ball movement and team harmony pleasing all. Wurzburg finally got going getting baskets from their 2 top German players Hannes Steinbach and David Engelhardt who came into the contest averaging combined 47 points per game as Frankfurt led only 11-8. But Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners had a potent offense that wasn´t going to disappoint on this day and cruised on a 12-4 run to extend their lead to 23-12. In the run, the team got incredible support from Joschua Zentgraf who supplied 8 points and brutal energy from the bench. He was injured for some time, but slowly is finding his rhythm again. That he is a real scraper in the zone is no secret and that is where he sparkled most. Down the stretch, Wurzburg got buckets from Germans Jaden Brown and Leon Kasche while Frankfurt´s offense continued to execute as Dusan Nikolic scored twice with his dangerous penetration and Joscha Zentgraf added 3 points. “Joscha was huge for us. I´m so happy for him. He is so important for us. He gives us so much energy and makes big hustle plays. We had great ball movement and got to the free throw line”, stated Dusan Nikolic. Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners shot 56% from the field and 38% from outside and had 8 rebounds and 2 turnovers while Wurzburg shot 45% from the field and 0% from outside and had 6 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

Noah Wendland at the FT line

The scoring onslaught continued in the second quarter as Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners added 28 points and they tightened up their defense allowing only 8 points to lead by a crazy 30 points at half-time. Frankfurt got going cruising on a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 40-22. In the run Frankfurt got key support from Ivan Crnjac with 5 points as he attacked the rim twice and scored and Joscha Zentgraf scored again as did defensive specialist Finley Pruever. The Frankfurt defense layed out the press defense that gave Wurzburg many problems as they coughed up the ball 5 times in the first few minutes thanks to the aggressive Frankfurt guard defenders. The defense remained consistent as Namori Omog stayed aggressive and registered 3 steals in a row that led to a transition basket by him and three pointer by Ivan Crnjac for the 45-24 advantage. “Namori played incredible. He was in a hole for a few games, but he showed just how important he can be for us. It is great that he is playing so well again”, stated Dusan Nikolic. Frankfurt´s aggressive defense forced 12 turnovers in the second quarter. It was apparent that Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners wanted to decide the game by half-time and kept the pressure on at both ends and closed out the second quarter with a 14-5 run to lead 59-29 at the break. In the run Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners got 4 points from Nikolic, 5 points from Marvin Esser who came back the day after and had an incredible 9/8 game in the Pro B win over Coburg and Jamie Edoka also added a left handed lay in. Nikolic doesn´t only shine with his scoring, but also has potent passing skills. On the one Esser bucket, he displayed a pretty bounce pass similar to Luka Doncic who likes to undress that from his sleeve during games. “I have copied that pass from Luka. I like to practice it. I think that I´m getting more of a feel from his game”, added Dusan Nikolic. Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners shot 56% from the field and 29% from the three point line and had 17 rebounds and 6 turnovers while Wurzburg shot 38% from the field and 0% from the three point line and had 15 rebounds and 16 turnovers. “Our defense totally took them out. We got great pressure from Omog and Pruever. We got in passing lanes and got easy transition baskets”, expressed Dusan Nikolic.

Dusan Nikolic to the hole

In the third quarter the offensive machine of Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners continued to execute at ease while the guests had a better groove on offense and scored 19 points but the hump to reach the peak where Frankfurt´s game was simply to high. Frankfurt led by 37 points after 30 minutes. Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners began with 3 stops that led to baskets by Leif Zentgraf and Ivan Crnjac and the 63-29 advantage. Wurzburg finally got their first field goal at the 7,57 minute mark as Tyrese Leonce snuck into the paint area and made an offensive rebound and put back. Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners then had a solid spurt once again going on a 13-4 run to lead masterfully 76-35. In the run Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners spread around the scoring love as both Zentgraf brothers scored as did Nikolic and and Crnjac while 2023 JBBL finalist Maximillian Peters added free throws. Frankfurt continued to remain consistent at both ends and just didn´t lose any intensity at both ends of the court. But basketball is a game of runs and they do occur even for the losing team as Wurzburg struck for a 7-2 run to trail 78-42. In the run the Bavarian team got support from Steinbach with 5 points. The dominant big man who averages 31,0ppg can only be slowed down so long. Down the stretch Frankfurt got lay in´s from Nikolic and Esser and Pruever added a trey as Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners led very comfortably 85-48. “Wurzburg got better into the game. We let up a bit which can happen when you lead by 30 points. We lost concentration a bit, but still won the third quarter”, said Dusan Nikolic. Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners shot 52% from the field and 26% from the parking lot and had 32 rebounds and 11 turnovers while Wurzburg shot 39% from the field and 11% from outside and had 24 rebounds and 21 turnovers.

Hannes Steinbach with the runner

The game was already decided after 3 quarters and in the fourth quarter Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners shifted down a few gears scoring only 16 points while the guests were able to match their point total. Frankfurt head coach Thore Bethke used the opportunity with the big lead to give some of the bench more minutes as guys like Peters, Rephael Edward and Julian Haskins got more time. Julian Haskins did most of the opportunity scoring 4 points. Peters also added a lay in. Wurzburg got some baskets from Kasche and Engelhart scored twice. Meanwhile Dusan Nikolic was still playing and must have had his stat line on his radar. He was flirting with a triple double, but first got that double double with his 10th assist. One could see in the few plays before that he was trying to find his teammates instead of finishing. One could see that the few misses by his teammates irked him a bit, but was so much more pleased when he finally got the 10th assist. “I definitely knew I was at 9 assists and really wanted the 10th. It took some time, but I finally got it”, smiled Dusan Nikolic. At the end, he barely missed the triple double as he needed 1 rebound more, but he did end the game by making the 101th point. “I knew that I would get that basket. I always want to take the last shot. Everyone knows that”, warned Dusan Nikolic. “We got better into the flow in the second half. We fought hard until the end”, stated Wurzburg head coach Alex King. “We closed out the game letting our bench play more”, said Dusan Nikolic. Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners were led by Dusan Nikolic with 20 points. Joscha Zentgraf and Ivan Crnjac added 17 points a piece and Leif Zentgraf added 10 points while Wurzburg was led by Hannes Steinbach with 19 points and 11 boards. Noah Wendland added 12 points and David Englehart had 11 points. Eintracht Frankfurt-Fraport Skyliners shot 48% from the field and 21% from outside and had 43 rebounds and 15 turnovers and Wurzburg shot 39% from the field and 8% from outside and had 33 rebounds and 28 turnovers.