The up and down weeks continue for the Fraport Skyliners Juniors as they continue to have massive problems on the road sporting a mediocre 1-5 record. A big inconvenience is not having all their players when the Pro A team is playing the same evening. Still that shouldn´t be an excuse as they have a deep and talented roster. The good news was that mostly after an away game, the club comes home and wins again. The bad news was a week before X-mas, Frankfurt had to play a very annoying team with BBC Coburg who might be underachieving a bit with only a 6-5 record. They have very talented players and a club that knows how to score as they average 86 per game, but like Frankfurt have their ups and down on defense allowing more than 88 points in the last 3 games. On a untypical Sunday night Pro B game, the Fraport Skyliners Juniors didn´t have their top roster as Nolan Adekunle, Jordan Samare and Nils Leonhardt were absent, but as usual they had enough fire power as Justin Onyejiaka (195-SG-2004) and Trevion Bell combined for 61 points and their bench gave great support as Frankfurt was able to complete the weekend sweep as all 3 teams Pro A, Pro B and NBBL cracked the 100 points and Pro B beat BBC Coburg 100-80. “It was cool to see 3 teams do this. It doesn´t happen often. This shows that Frankfurt is a good place for basketball. We have to keep it up”, smiled Justin Onyejiaka. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors played a strong game for 40 minutes and showed how brutal their athleticism was for Coburg to have to handle. “The key word for this game was sense of urgency. We ran our offense very well and did what we wanted to. We got great bench support and many young guys stepped up”, stressed Justin Onyejiaka. BBC Coburg had their moments on offense, but just had an off day defensively and you can´t afford that against a potent offensive team like Frankfurt. “We had a tough time getting into the game. We didn´t play our game which is fast. Our 1-1 defense was horrible and there was no help defense. When you don´t do that, you can easily give up 100 points. We also had big problems with their athleticism”, stressed BBC Coburg guard Sven Lorber.

Jujstin Onyejiaka dunk

The Fraport Skyliners Juniors exploded in the first quarter scoring 32 points as Onjejiaka and Bell combined for 28 points with 14 points a piece. BBC Coburg actually had the better start leading 5-3 as Utah native Kolton Mortensen hit a trey and ex Paderborn German Adrian Petkovic scored a lay in with his quickness. But Frankfurt then erupted for a 13-3 run to lead 16-7 as fans witnessed the Onyejiaka and Bell show as they combined for 10 points. After Onyejiaka made a lay in, he then served up the perfect dime for the Bell alley-oop dunk as the gym erupted. “It just happened. I saw he was going to the rim. I just threw it up for him. It was one of the better dunks this season”, stressed Justin Onyejiaka. Young German Joshua Zentgraf interrupted their athletic show with a lay in and free throw, but the show then continued as both dropped three´s and Onyejiaka then showed his flying hawk skills with a brutal one hand dunk. Frankfurt had more intensity and were on transition as often as they could. Frankfurt were dominating the boards and didn´t allow an offensive flow for the guests. Here and there, Coburg showed flashes of brilliance on offense as they got lay in´s from Mortensen, ex IBAM guard Gabriel Kuku and a clutch three from Austrian bench player Marco Hollerl to trail only 19-14. But Frankfurt´s offense was unstoppable as they closed out the first quarter with a swift 13-2 run to lead 32-16. In the run the Onyejiaka and Bell show continued as he connected on 2 more three´s and Onyejiaka made a runner and pull up jumper. “We were in the flow. Bell and I are a duo. We just know how to score. We can dominate in the Pro B”, stated Justin Onyejiaka. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 61% from the field and 71% from outside and had 13 rebounds and 3 turnovers while BBC Co burg shot 33% from the field and 29% from outside and had 8 rebounds and 2 turnovers.

Adrian Petkovic jumper

The Fraport Skyliners Juniors still kept the lead in the second quarter, but BBC Coburg got a solid offensive rhythm and actually won the quarter 23-21. BBC Coburg came out strong going on a 10-6 run to trail 38-26. Like Frankfurt, the guests also got crucial bench support as Lithuanian U-18 national player Danas Kazakevicius who looked comfortable in the paint area scored twice and Kuku who averaged 10ppg with Hanau last season nailed a trey. After Drago Crnjac and Petkovic traded three pointers, BBC Coburg got added support from the bench from young German Abdelkahar Karioui who also showed he could wheel and deal in the paint scoring twice as Frankfurt allowed the Bavarian team to hang around leading only 44-33. But Coburg only showed flashes of success on offense as defensively they couldn´t find an identity allowing Frankfurt easy baskets inside as Onyejaika made an offensive rebound and put back and pass first point guard Philipp Hadenfeldt dished the perfect bounce pass to Joshua Zentgraf for the lay in and soon after hit a trey for Frankfurt. But Frankfurt couldn´t shake BBC Coburg as their bench came up big all night long as ex Trier U-19 player Nils Piprek dropped a trey to close out the first half as they trailed only 53-40. “We let up a bit. They upped the tempo and we didn´t respect it”, stated Justin Onyejiaka. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 50% from the field and 50% from the three point line and had 23 rebounds and 9 turnovers while BBC Coburg shot 45% from the field and 42% from the three point line and had 15 rebounds and 7 turnovers.

Adrian Worthy at the FT line

In the third quarter the Fraport Skyliners Juniors upped their offense a bit again and defensively didn´t allow BBC Coburg to play their quick game as much and got more stops. Frankfurt came out storming going on a 21-8 run to extend their lead to 71-48. In the run, Frankfurt got 4 baskets from Onyejiaka including a massive dunk as his athleticism overwhelmed BBC Coburg all night long. Trevian Bell also added 2 three pointers and his second displayed a sick cross over and deep three and young German Leif Zentgraf produced a trey. “That crossover was nice. His big strength is creating his own shot. I knew it would go in. He shows it in practice every day”, stressed Justin Onyejiaka. Frankfurt found their smooth offensive flow again and really lived off their transition and athleticism. BBC Coburg relied too much on 1-1 play as they couldn´t move the ball the way they wanted to and on defense continued to have extreme difficulty containing the Frankfurt drives. In the last minutes BBC Bayreuth executed better getting continued support from Kazakevicius as he scored twice and the quick and athletic guard duo of Adrian Worthy and Gabriel Kuku scored while Onyejiaka continued to do his magic adding 2 more buckets and young German Dustin Nikolic made a running hook shot. “I felt free tonight. I did what I do best and that is getting to the rim. I played off instincts”, stated Justin Onyejiaka. The Frasport Skyliners Juniors shot 55% from the field and 48% from the parking lot and had 32 rebounds and 11 turnovers while BBC Bayreuth shot 45% from the field and 41% from the parking lot and had 21 rebounds and 9 turnovers. “We got a lot of steals and a lot of support from Joshua Zentgraf and Marvin Esser. That allowed us to play transition”, commented Justin Onyejiaka. “We had good phases on offense but just couldn´t get stops. We also played good defense at times, but it just wasn´t enough”, stressed Sven Lorber.

Marvin Esser at the FT line

The Fraport Skyliners Juniors had such a huge lead that at the end it didn´t matter that BBC Coburg narrowly won the fourth quarter in scoring 21-20. Frankfurt head coach Sepher Tarrah did the right thing giving the young kids added playing time as Ivan Crnjak got extra minutes as did Marvin Esser. Ivan Crnjak had a strong phase early scoring 7 unanswered points with a step back jumper, transition lay in and three free throws to give Frankfurt the 89-64 advantage. BBC Coburg sniper Sven Lorber added back to back three´s and Petkovic also answered from the parking lot, but they couldn´t make any ground still trailing Frankfurt 92-72. BBC Coburg also got added support from Petkovic with a 20 footer and Worthy lay in while Marvin Esser continued to quietly play a solid game making a lay in for the 96-76 lead. Frankfurt was getting close to the 100 points. Leif Zentgraf scored a lay in for 98 points and the 100 points was achieved in style as Marvin Esser made the crushing dunk. The young German finished with incredible 9/8/2/1/1 stats and was the third most efficient player after Onyejaika and Bell. “Our bench played very well and fought until the end. I have a lot of respect for them”, added Justin Onyejiaka. “Our offense was ok, but we just couldn´t get closer. Our communication and help side defense needs to be better”, stressed Sven Lorber. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors were led by Justin Onyejiaka with 34 points and Trevian Bell added 27 points while BBC Coburg were led by Gabriel kuku with 14 points while Adrian Petkovic had 13 points. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 53% from the field and 42% from outside and had 37 rebounds and 14 turnovers while BBC Coburg shot 47% from the field and 48% from outside and had 29 rebounds and 14 turnovers.