Going into the playoffs strong is always something a team wants to do, but for the Fraport Skyliners, it was definitely not the case. They ended the season with a brutal OT home loss to the Artland Dragons who were near the bottom of the standings and fell from second to fourth place and now had a very difficult 5 game series against Medipolis SC Jena. Jena had been a club that had swept them and now they had a lot of soul searching the last days and head coach Dennis Wucherer had to find a way to get them in the right frame of mind. They had to find a way to get into playoff mode as Jena had come into the series having won 4 of their last 5 games. The Fraport Skyliners had to get a lot more physical and active on the boards and somehow slow down their scoring guard duo of Amir Hinton and Blake Francis. Medipolis SC Jena came to Frankfurt for game 1 and the Fraport Skyliners erased their poor showing form the Artland game and finially beat Medipolis SC Jena showing a destructive three point fire works 89-74. “We had great energy and showed that we wanted to be here and win. The first 2 loses left a bad taste and we knew we had to lock down. We had outstanding three point shooting, rebounded the ball well and just had great effort”, stressed Fraport Skyliner guard Cameron Henry. Mediplois SC Jena had a solid first quarter, but were washed away in the second and third quarter by the Fraport Skyliners three point rain fall and just never recovered. “They were a lot different team than what we saw in the first 2 games. They had guys hitting three´s that normally didn´t do that. When you shoot close to 55% from outside, then it´s going to be tough not to lose. We didn´t have the needed energy or physicality. We gave up way too many offensive rebounds. We will have to clean that up in game 2”, stressed Medipolis SC Jena forward Rasheed Moore.

    Joshiko Saibou at the FT line           

Medipolis SC Jena jumped all over the Fraport Skyliners in the first minutes taking a quick 13-6 advantage. The guests took advantage of some nice isolation plays as ex Skyliner Moore and ex Richmond(NCAA) guard Blake Francis hit fade away jumpers. Haukohl made an easy lay up while Francis was left open again for a three pointer. Frankfurt didn´t have that aggressive energy and gave up easy baskets. However Frankfurt needed some time finding their energy and got going sparked by Cameron Henry´s 5 points and three pointer as well as Marco Voeller´s three pointer as they grabbed the lead back at 17-16. Frankfurt calmed down after the first few hectic minutes and upped their defensive aggressiveness that led to a Ife Ajayi block on ex G-League player Amir Hinton. “That block was amazing. He is so strong and his presence is known. He plays with so much heart”, stated Cameron Henry. Ex Belmont(NCAA) guard Kevin Mcclain added a lay in as the Fraport Skyliners led 20-18 after one quarter. “Both teams were feeling each other out in the first quarter. It was a matter who would give in first. We remained focused. I feel like we did a good job taking the shots that we wanted to”, added Cameron Henry. The Fraport Skyliners shot 38% from the field and 50% from outside and had 9 rebounds and 4 turnovers while Medipolis SC Jena shot 40% from the field and 33% from outside and had 9 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

 Booker Coplin at the FT line              

In the second quarter the Fraport Skyliners took control of the game and would never look back as they led by 14 points at the break. In the first few minutes though it was Medipolis SC Jena that jumped on Frankfurt going on a 8-3 run to lead 26-23 as it was the Rasheed Moore show. He scored all 8 points and demonstrated his valuable inside out game hitting a trey and scoring in the paint twice showing how well he can insert his body to his advantage. However the Fraport Skyliners didn´t let that run bother them as they exploded nailing 6 three´s enroute to a 21-7 run to close out the second quarter and lead 47-33 at half-time. It seemed like one three pointer was made and the next time the hole looked even bigger as it just kept raining threes. In the three point fireworks, Frankfurt was aided by Minnesota native Booker Coplin who hit 2 as did David Muenkat while Marco Voeller and Justin Onyejiaka also connected. Frankfurt was calm on offense and really had great shot selection while on defense they continued to make shots difficult for Jena as they tended to go to 1-1 play more than team play. Frankfurt also got buckets inside the paint from Canadian Aiden Warnholtz and Booker Coplin. “We fed off each other. They had a good start and when I came in, I knew I had to bring the needed energy. We took great three´s and not ones that they gave us”, said Cameron Henry. The Fraport Skyliners shot 54% from the field and 69% from the three point line and had 17 rebounds and 5 turnovers while Medipolis SC Jena shot 34% from the field and 31% from the three point line and had 16 rebounds and 7 turnovers.

   Vuk Radojicic from outside            

In the third quarter the Fraport Skyliners offense continued to be on fire as they scored 29 points and led by 23 points after 30 minutes. Frankfurt kept up their hot shooting going on a 13-6 run to lead 60-39. In the run, it was the consistent hot shooting of 2022 JBBL MVP Justin Onyejiaka who amassed 9 points and 3 three´s. “Justin took the three´s that he wanted to. He was the youngest guy out there and he played with so much poise”, commented Cameron Henry. Jacob Knauf also added a three pointer in the scoring attack. In the next minutes the guests would score some baskets as Rasheed Moore was their anchor as he hit 2 three´s, but Frankfurt always had an answer and simply had everybody on the same page. Knauf hit another three as the hole must of looked real big for him on this day and Ife Ajayi remained physical and in attack mode making back to back lay in´s as Frankfurt led 67-53. Then came the Cameron Henry show as he put the exclamation mark on the win early as he scored the last 9 Frankfurt points for the 76-53 advantage. He made a trey, but really dominated with his mid range game making 3 baskets. “That span was very fun. It was great seeing my teammates give me the ball and believing in me. I love that and that is what we play for. My teammates gave me the confidence to keep going”, added Cameron Henry. The Fraport Skyliners shot 59% from the field and 63% from the parking lot and had 27 rebounds and 7 turnovers while Medipolis SC Jena shot 39% from the field and 38% from the parking lot and had 22 rebounds and 9 turnovers. “We continued to defend really well. We did a good job sinking in and guarding the paint well. We made them take three´s that they normally wouldn´t take”, commented Cameron Henry. “Frankfurt defended well. We weren´t physical enough on the box out and we gave them too many second chances”, commented Rasheed Moore.

  David Muenkat from downtown             

In the fourth quarter the Fraport Skyliners didn´t execute as well anymore scoring 13 points while the guests executed better, but the damage had been done as Jena was unable to get over the hump. In the first few possessions, it was Aiden Warnholtz who scored 5 points and Vuk Radojicic who nailed back to back three´s, but Frankfurt still led 81-59. Both teams got their 5^th team fouls early as both teams would get to the free throw line often. Knauf and Haukohl made three´s, but Frankfurt still led comfortably 84-64. Medipolis SC Jena made a little run in the last minutes of 9-2, but it was too little too late. In the run the guests got to the free throw line 3 times, but missed a few shots while Robin Lodders buried an old school hook shot. The Fraport Skyliners had pretty much wrapped up the win early and were saving a little energy for game 2 on Sunday which most likely will be an ugly game. Vuc Radojicic closed out the game with a three pointer. “We played well in the first 5 minutes, but at the end took our feet off the gas pedal. That wasn´t good. We need to stay focused for 40 minutes”, warned Cameron Henry. “I don´t think that they took their feet of the gas pedal. They had had a comfortable lead. It was just too little too late for us. We can´t put ourselves in a situation like that in the first place”, warned Rasheed Moore. The Fraport Skyliners were led by Justin Onyejiaka with 17 points. Cameron Henry added 15 points while Booker Coplin scored 12 points while Medipolis SC Jena were led by Rasheed Morore with 20 points and Vuk Radojicic added  12 points. The Fraport Skyliners shot 53% from the field and 53% from outside and had 33 rebounds and 9 turnovers while Medipolis SC Jena shot 39% from the field and 44% from outside and had 33 rebounds and 11 turnovers.