The Fraport Skyliners finished 2023 on a winning note winning a nail bitter in Speyer and now would meet them again in 2024 for the second time in a row after only a 2 week break in between. Frankfurt had been playing spirted basketball in the last weeks having won 3 of their last 4 games. They had showed a solid mix at both ends of the court while the 5-8 Speyer team had won 2 of their last 3 games, but lost 4 of their last 6 games. In the victory 2 weeks ago, German Philipp Hadenfeldt gave his farewell leading the team with 21 points. This time the medical student wasn´t in uniform, because he had taken a leave of absence and gone to Australia to take a semester abroad. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors now had to compensate that loss and had numerous young players that wanted to prove themselves. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors had an explosive first quarter, but then had to throw punches with a feisty Speyer team that just wouldn´t go away and had to decide the game in crunch-time to escape their living room with the hard fought 72-68 victory. Were the younger guys more motivated than usual because they had to step up? “We are always motivated. The young guys knew they would play more minutes and played with a high intensity. We hustled and played with heart. We did a really good job always being able to find solutions at both ends of the court when we needed them”, stated Fraport Skyliner Junior Drago Crnjac. Last season the Ahorn Camp BIS Baskets Speyer won in Frankfurt with a buzzer beater and it looked like the game could come down to another buzzer beater, but this time they had no Quadre Lollis Jr. “The first quarter hurt us. We had to play catch up basketball after that. We played good defense for 30 minutes and got Rupp back on track. There were 1-2 plays at the end that decided the game for Frankfurt”, stressed Speyer guard DJ Woodmore.

Florian Dietrich at the FT line

The Fraport Skyliners Juniors came into the contest very depleted as they were missing Nolan Adekunle, Jordan Samare and Justin Onyejiaka who were playing in Vechta while Felix Hecker was injured and Philipp Hadenfeldt was in Australia. But that negativity didn´t faze Frankfurt as they stormed out on a rapid 6-2 lead as young German big man Florian Dietrich who played 44 Regionalliga games for Kronberg scored the teams first 6 points including 2 layin´s with 2 assists from Trevian Bell. Frankfurt wanted to establish their inside game and did. Spanish guard Carlos Hidalgo got Speyer going scoring 5 points and trailed Frankfurt 9-5 after Alvin Onyia hit a trey testing his 41%. Speyer had an offensive rhythm and shared the ball nicely getting baskets by Woodmore and Germans Dennis Diala and Pavle Pisic to lead 13-11. But the Fraport Skyliners Juniors didn´t shy away from showing all their scoring depth and exploded on a lethal 16-3 run to lead comfortably 27-16 after 10 minutes. In the run Frankfurt was led by Drago Crnjac who compares his game to Miami Heat Tyler Herro amassing 8 points with a three pointer and 2 lay in´s while Trevian Bell and 2017 JBBL finalist Calvin Schaum dropped three pointers. “I felt like we moved the ball really well. We also used the mismatches to our advantage and used our 1-1 qualities and executed well”, stressed Drago Crnjac. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 59% from the field and 67% from outside and had 11 rebounds and 3 turnovers while the Ahorn Camp BIS Baskets Speyer shot 46% from the field and 40% from outside and had 4 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

Christoph Rupp at the FT line

The scoring machine of the Fraport Skyliners didn´t execute as well in the second quarter as the Ahorn Camp BIS Baskets Speyer buckled down on defense and inserted a zone at times that Frankfurt couldn´t crack. Speyer held Frankfurt to 9 points, but Frankfurt still led by 3 points at the break. Speyer came out refreshed in the second frame going on a 7-0 run and trailed only 28-23. In the run the guests got lay in´s by big man David Aichle and Dj Woodmore and the American also added 3 free throws. Frankfurt lost their offensive rhythm and made bad decisions and were rushing their plays too much while Speyer played spirited team basketball. Frankfurt didn´t let Speyer get over the hump getting a key lay in by Bell and three pointer by young German Dusan Nikolic to lead 33-27. Dennis Dialla one of the defensive stoppers for Speyer head coach Catl Mbassa made key free throws, but that was matched by 3 free throws by Drago Crnjac to keep the 36-29 advantage. Spanish guard Carlos Hidalgo who played 146 EBA games in Spain ended the quarter with vital energy making an off balance shot and lay in on transition as the Fraport Skyliners Juniors had the slim 36-33 lead. “Speyer went to a zone and they were the first team this season that was able to slow down out one play against the zone. We continued to play good defense which helped us keep the lead”, added Drago Crnjac. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 34% from the field and 28% from the three point line and had 25 rebounds and 10 turnovers while the Ahorn Camp BIS Baskets Speyer shot 42% from the field and 29% from the three point line and had 16 rebounds and 8 turnovers.

Calvin Schaum from outside

The third quarter remained a close battle, but despite some lead changes, the Fraport Skyliners had the slim 2 point lead after 30 minutes. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors had a horrible start getting stopped 6 times, but the Ahorn Camp BIS Baskets Speyer couldn´t take advantage of it scoring only 3 baskets, but taking the 39-36 advantage. In the Speyer 6-0 run, Dj Woodmore, Dennis Dialla and David Aichele all scored in the paint area. Speyer played controlled team basketball and took advantage of the mismatches and on defense continued to Stifle Frankfurt with their zone defense. Frankfurt finally got their first field goal at the 6,09 minute mark as Dietrich scored which was followed by an Onyia three pointer for the 41-39 lead. The lead didn´t remain long as Rupp tied the score at 41-41 with a lay in. The game remained tight as Christoph Rupp was a real energizer being aggressive and scored again and made free throws for the 48-47 lead. “Rupp was big at both ends. He can really be our motor sometimes. If we can contain to sustain this, then I think we will be really good”, stated DJ Woodmore. But Frankfurt had a real hot Drago Crnjac on this day as he continued to carry Frankfurt. In the last minute, he made a big lay in and closed out the third quarter with a buzzer beater trey. “We defended well on 1-1 play and boxed out well. We hardly gave up any easy baskets”, commented Drago Crnjac. “We switched to zone and caught them off guard. We rode that momentum and got back into the game”, expressed DJ Woodmore. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 36% from the field and 27% from the parking lot and had 35 rebounds and 13 turnovers while the Ahorn Camp BIS Baskets Speyer shot 42% from the field and 23% from the parking lot and had 28 rebounds and 12 turnovers.

Carlos Hidalgo jumper

The fourth quarter continued to be a real dog fight as the Ahorn Camp BIS Baskets Speyer took the lead twice, but couldn´t hold it and then in crunch-time lost it and the game. German Simon Franke began the fourth quarter with a free throw which was followed by a Dragon Crnjac floater and 55-52 Frankfurt lead. But Speyer fought back and got back to back buckets from 212cm center David Aichele who made a one handed dunk coming from the base line and then a floater as Frankfurt trailed 56-55. Then came real brotherly love as Drago Crnjac was in trouble and somehow found his 16 year old brother Ivan in the corner and he dropped a trey for the 58-56 Frankfurt advantage. “It is really one of the best feelings being able to play with your brother at a high level. We support each other. It´s like a dream come true”, stated Drago Crnjac. DJ Woodmore tied the game at 58-58 with a 20 footer. Ivan Crnjac then made an off balance jumper and free throw and Rupp a trey to dead lock the game at 61-61. Both teams continued to exchange blows with the other always finding a an answer. Nikolic made 2 free throws and Aichele a lay in to tie the game 63-63. Speyer got the lead back with a Rupp runner only to see Drago Crnjac tie the game at 65-65 with a runner. Bell then made an off balance jumper for the 68-66 Frankfurt lead with 16,3 seconds to play. After a Hidalgo miss who had a good look, Drago Crnjac made 2 free throws for the 70-66 lead with 14,9 seconds to play. He would finish with a career best 29 points. “I had a feeling today that this could be my day after I saw who would play. I took advantage of it. I give a lot of credit to my teammates who found me. Even when I made mistakes, my teammates still had faith in me. Hard work really pays off”, said Drago Crnjac. Dialla made an off balance shot with 5 seconds to play and then Drago Crnjac iced the win with 2 free throws. “Bell shot helped us, but we also got to the free throw line. We also did the simple things at the end”, stated Drago Crnjac. “Both Crnjac brothers made big plays and shots. Hidalgo makes that shot at the end 9 out of 10 times. It was just one of those days where shots didn´t fall”, stressed DJ Woodmore. The Frapöort Skyliners Juniors were led by Drago Crnjac with 29 points and Trevian Bell added 12 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists while the Ahorn Camp BIS Baskets Speyer were led by Carlos Hidalgo and Christoph Rupp with 14 points a piece. The Fraport Skyliners Juniors shot 35% from the field and 26% from outside and had 42 rebounds and 15 turnovers while the Ahorn Camp BIS Baskets Speyer shot 43% from the field and 23% from outside and had 39 rebounds and 14 turnovers.