The Dragons Rhondorf came to Cologne knowing that they could have had the 11 point difference instead of 2 point difference, but the Dragons Rhondorf had to make the best of it as they had to take care of business on the road in Cologne against the RheinStars to win the Pro B crown and not allow Cologne to win by 3 or more points. In Rhondorf, fans saw a real Turnover fest as 43 were produced in total. The Dragons are always lethal when their three pointer is falling as they connected for 15 as Antonio Pillipovic dropped 5 in total. In the return game in Cologne, the Dragons Rhondorf had to be smarter on the boards and try to find a way to limit the Rheinstars inside out game as Bryan Battle connected for 25 points and Bjoern Rohwer exploded for 34 points. On a mild Sunday afternoon, the 2024 pro B crown was decided in Cologne as the Dragons Rhondorf supplied a lot of splash like the Golden State Warriors duo of Curry and Thompson have done for years netting 20 three´s and beating the RheinStars Cologne 83-68 to win the Pro B crown. Dragons captain Kelvin Omojola was ecstatic after the win like a little kid is when he gets to have Lebron James over for his birthday party because it was his first pro title. “This wasn´t just my first pro title but first title at any level. I´m speechless. I really contributed this season and it just feels amazing. It was also great that my mom could see it who flew all the way here from Los Angeles”, stressed Dragons Rhondorf guard Kelvin Omojola. The Dragons topped their game from Friday with 20 three´s and just wanted the win badly. “We wanted to win 1000%. We hated how we ended game 1. We were super motivated. Even if they began well, we never felt like we could lose this game. We hit a lot of three´s and we were all feeling it. That began yesterday where we got off many shots in practice. That translated over to today. We also saved our best defense to the end. To keep a high scoring team like them to 68 points is amazing”, said Kelvin Omojola. The RheinStars Cologne gave a good shot, but had no answer to slow down the Dragons rain fall. “They hit a lot of three´s and way too many to have to give up. It was tough to come back. We gave all we had this whole season. I appreciate everyone on the team”, stressed RheinStars Cologne guard Bryan Battle.

Antonio Pilipovic from outside

The RheinStars Cologne jumped all over the Dragons Rhondorf in the first quarter netting 29 points and led by 14 points after 10 minutes. Cologne hit 2 three´s in a row by Germans Ruppert Hennen and Tim Lang. Rhondorf got their first field goal at the 7,24 minute mark by ex Paderborn guard Badu Buck as Cologne led 6-2. The RheinStars continued to showcase pretty inside out basketball and also received 2 lay in´s by Lithuanian big man Grantas Vasilauskas as they were very physical while Rhondorf couldn´t get inside and had to opt for the 3 ball getting 2 by Antonio Pilipovic (200-PF-1997) who was playing his ex team to trail 13-9. The RheinStars continued to execute very well getting easy baskets inside by German Robin Straub who connected twice and 2 baskets by American Bryan Battle as the Dragons trailed 22-12. The RheinStars bench gave much spark to the scoring and rebounding department. Cologne also did a good job with the mismatches and continued to get easy baskets as ex Jena center Bjoern Rohwer scored as did Straub. Ex Telekom Baskets Bonn guard Andrej Mangold added a trey for good measure as the RheinStars led comfortably 29-15. Cologne shot 60% from the field and 44% from outside and had 12 rebounds and 1 turnover while the Dragons Rhondorf shot 33% from the field and 30% from outside and had 8 rebounds and 4 turnovers. “We weren´t nervous, but just didn´t play with a sense of urgency. They were very quick and we were always a step behind”, stressed Kelvin Omojola.

Bjoern Rohwer with the basket inside

In the second quarter the Dragons Rhondorf finally totally broke out of their shell exploding for 6 three´s and coming together on defense to allow only 12 points and have the contest deadlocked at 41-41 at half-time. The Dragons Rhondorf began with a lethal 13-0 run to trail only 29-28. In the run the Dragons got 2 three´s by Omojola, 5 points from ex Bamberg guard Tyreese Blunt and a lay in by Buck. On the defensive end the Dragons got 9 stops playing aggressive defense with good help side, but the RheinStars also had some misfortune as Rohwer missed to give me lay in´s. Cologne got to the free throw line twice and didn´t get their first field goal until the 2,34 minute mark as Steffen Haufs made a lay in for the 34-32 advantage. Cologne had some energy at this point staying aggressive as Rohwer made 4 points at the free throw line for the 38-32 lead. However the Dragons Rhondorf still had some offensive fire power in their tank as they closed out the second quarter with a brutal 9-3 run to tie the game at 41-41. Battle made a three pointer while Blunt connected twice and Pilipovic also scored. “We didn´t really make any defensive adjustments. We were just really locked in. Coach told us to just stick to our principles. We closed down the zone and were just totally clicking as a unit”, added Kelvin Omojola. “Shots began to fall for the Dragons and their confidence rose. They fed off their three´s”, stated ex St John´s forward Ron Mvouica. The Dragons Rhondorf shot 42% from the field and 395 from the three point line and had 19 rebounds and 6 turnovers while the RheinStars Cologne shot 39% from the field and 29% from the three point line and had 23 rebounds and 3 turnovers.

Janne Muller

The third quarter remained a tight battle as the scoring took a break as nerves may have played a role, but after 30 minutes the RheinStars Cologne had the slight 2 point lead. Antonio Pilipovic began the third quarter off with a bang hitting consecutive three´s for the 47-41 Rhondorf lead. Rohwer followed with a lay in and ex Trier guard Ruppert Hennen followed with a floater as Cologne stayed close trailing 48-45. Then came a little lull in the game as both teams had difficulty executing. Ex Tuebingen center Jekabs Beck followed with free throws for the 50-45 Rhondorf advantage. The RhienStars then came back with a 6-1 run as Vasilauskas scored twice and Battle made a hard 2 handed dunk of transition. “Battle is a great player that is so quick. We did a better job slowing him down in comparison to Friday´s game”, commented Kelvin Omojola. Battle added another bucket in the last minute on transition, but it was Pilipovic who added another clutch trey at the buzzer as the Dragons trailed 56-54. “We had that no quit mentality. We always felt like we could come back. But they just continued hitting crazy shot after crazy shot”, said Bryan Battle. “We put our foot off the gas pedal. They made us pay for it. They were aggressive and got to the free throw line. I was never worried, because we knew they would have their runs”, expressed Kelvin Omojola. The RheinStars shot 36% from the field and 22% from the parking lot and had 37 rebounds and 4 turnovers while the Dragons Rhondorf shot 39% from the field and 39% from the parking lot and had 30 rebounds and 11 turnovers.

Bryan Battle at the FT line

In the fourth quarter the Dragons Rhondorf were fed up with the close affair and decided to slam the door on the RheinStars cologne going on a nasty 17-0 run to lead 71-60 and made the ASV gym very quiet. In the run the Dragons Rhondorf relied on their three ball as Omojola added 11 points on 3 three´s while Buck and Pilipovic also connected from the parking lot. After a Straub tip in, the rain fall of three´s by the Dragons continued as Buck and Blunt added 2 three´s for the 77-62 advantage. The Dragons Rhondorf were hitting three´s as if they were a mini Golden State Warriors. Rhondorf had taken care of business and now had to only close out the game in style. Cologne then did respond with a swift 6-0 run as Battle scored twice including releasing all of his frustration on a thunderous one hand dunk from the wing to trail only 77-68, but that was the last scoring that they would do. The Dragons Rhondorf closed out the game and title with a 6-0 run as Texas native Avery Sullivan made a tip in and Tyreese Blunt ended the game with a massive three pointer. “We took Antonio Pilipovic´s lead today. After it was like an Avalanche. He wanted to do so well against his old team. I was so happy for his success”, said Kelvin Omojola. “They continued to hit three´s and we couldn´t stop it. They had way too many open looks”, said Bryan Battle. The Dragons Rhondorf were led by Antonio Pilipovic with 24 points. Kelvin Omojola added 20 points while Tyreese Blunt added 18 points while the RheinStars Cologne were led by Bryan Battle with 17 points and Grantas Vasilauskas chipped in 14 points. The Dragons Rhondorf shot 45% from the field and 45% from outside and had 40 rebounds and 16 turnovers while the RheinStars Cologne shot 36% from the field and 19% from outside and had 44 rebounds and 7 turnovers.