After a massive 82-80 win on the road in Ludwigsburg, the Skyliners Juniors returned back home to square off against FC Bayern Basketball 2. Frankfurt was lucky to escape Ludwigsburg with a win after producing 24 turnovers. Frankfurt came back into their living room sporting a 3-3 record and added self-confidence after a nail bitter win. Their opponent FC Bayern Munich was playing anything like the way a big time club should as they had a poor 1-5 record. The team had lost their big 3 of Kharchekov, Kalu and Randonic and had many new young players that were led by Dominic Dolic, Ivan Volf and Marco Frank. However on this night, Frankfurt had enough offensive power especially from Bruno Albrecht (189-SG-2001) who nailed 8 three´s for the third consecutive time at home plus guys like Ivan Crnjac and Dusan Nikolic who supplied points whenever the Munich was threatening. But it wasn´t just these 3 players that were key, but the whole team who contributed from start to end. “This was an absolute team effort. We moved the ball really well. We still had many turnovers, but that happens with a young team like ours. We have a great dynamic of drivers and shooters. We have big guards who supplied great pressure and we rebounded well”, stressed Bruno Albrecht. FC Bayern Basketball 2were unable to keep up with Frankfurt, but fought until the end despite being so young. “We have a super young team and guys have problems to adjust to the Pro B level. We missed a lot of shots tonight. We weren´t ready to compete in the third quarter and our moral went down. I´m proud how we kept fighting back in the fourth quarter”, stressed FC Bayern Basketball 2 assistant coach Federico Perego.

Ivan Crnjac at the FT line

The first quarter was a dog fight as no team was able to get away until the end when Dusan Nikolic nailed a trey for the 5 point advantage. The Skyliners Juniors got their three pointer going early as Bruno Albrecht hit twice while ex Wurzburg guard Philip Hadenfeld scored once while FC Bayern Basketball 2 elected to go inside and got 2 buckets from Montenengro guard Amar Licina and Italian Allesio Calamita scored twice off the pick and roll exchange with ex ANGT player Ivan Volf, but Frankfurt led 13-10. Frankfurt may have found a groove with their outside shooting, but they also tried to get 20 year old German big man Malik Kordel involved as he made a lay in and block while NBBL player Maximillian Peters made a floater. Ukraine big man Desmond Yiamu was aggressive and got to the free throw line, but also had problems making his free shots. Nikolic made a last second trey for the 21-16 lead after 10 minutes. The Skyliners Juniors shot 64% from the field and 80% from outside and had 7 rebounds and 5 turnovers while FC Bayern Basketball 2 shot 39% from the field and 0% from outside and had 10 rebounds and 3 turnovers. “We have had problems with our starts this season. We play sloppy and then become surprised how a young team like Bayern can play against us. We gave up too many turnovers”, stated Bruno Albrecht.

Amar Licina from outside

In the second quarter the Skyliners Juniors were able to keep the lead and control the game despite FC Bayern Basketball 2 not wilting, but fighting and staying in range. Frankfurt got some key buckets with a trey from Hadenfeldt and a powerful 2 handed dunk from Dusan Nikolic who came flying in from the wing and finished with authority to lead 26-18. With Kharchenkov and Kalu gone, Munich needs new guys to step up and one of those guys is Marco Frank who continues to develop his game in the last years. He stepped up with 5 unanswered points as Frankfurt led only 26-23. But Frankfurt always had an answer when Munich threatened as Ivan Crnjac nailed a trey for the 29-23 advantage. He would hit key shots many more times in the game then when the opponent was trying to get closer. “Ivan is so important for us. He is so solid in all areas. The way he takes those corner three´s where he takes the shot high is great. That is an incredible quality that not many have”, warned Bruno Albrecht. Munich continued to execute well under pressure getting a lay in from Croatian guard Dominik Dolic and 2 lay in´s from Desmond Yiamu as Frankfurt led only 34-29. But then it was time for the Felix Hecker show as he made a great spin move. He must of took some inspiration from Ja Morant´s amazing 360 basket a few days ago. “That is actually Felix´s signature move. We need more of that from him. I actually didn´t think of Ja Morants spin from a few days ago”, smiled Bruno Albrecht. Licina scored again using his quickness with a lay in as Frankfurt led 36-31. Then it was time for Ivan Crnjac to nail another trey for the 39-31 lead. In the last minutes, Dusan Nikolic made another 2 handed dunk and trey to keep Munich at bay trailing 45-33 at the break. “Dusan played really great. He is really efficient when he doesn´t turnover the ball”, said Bruno Albrecht. The Skyliners Juniors shot 52% from the field and 54% from the three point line and had 18 rebounds and 7 turnovers and the FC Bayern basketball 2 shot 42% from the field and 8% from the three point line and had 18 rebounds and 5 turnovers.

Dusan Nikolic for the dunk

In the third quarter the Skyliners Juniors continued to execute well on offense despite having a slow start where the guests couldn´t take advantage of. FC Bayern Basketball 2 stopped Frankfurt´s first 4 possessions, but couldn´t get more than a runner from Marco Frank to trail 45-35. Then Frankfurt just totally turned up their game going on a lethal 11-4 run to extend their lead to 56-39. In the run, they let it rain three´s as Crnjac, Hadenfeldt and Albrecht dropped three pointers and Malik Kordel made a thunderous dunk. After a Licina trey, Frankfurt scored 7 unanswered points to extend their lead once more to 63-42. In the run, they continued to display fine inside out basketball getting 2 lay in´s from Kordel and Nikolic and an off balance deep trey from Bruno Albrecht. Down the stretch, Marco Frank continued to take responsibility and scored twice, but Frankfurt also was able to punch back with baskets from Fabian Baumgarten and Hadenfeldt as Frankfurt led 67-46 after 30 minutes. “Our role problems did a super job taking over whenever we needed their support”, added Bruno Albrecht. “We kept missing shots and our moral continued to sink. It wasn´t easy for some of our young guys to battle against more experienced players”, stressed Federico Perego. The Skyliners Juniors shot 51% from the field and 55% from the parking lot and had 26 rebounds and 9 turnovers while FC Bayern Basketball 2 shot 40% from the field and 11% from the three point line and had 31 rebounds and 11 turnovers.

Alessio Calamita with the lay in

In the fourth quarter FC Bayern Basketball 2 began well coming back momentarily, but Frankfurt escaped their slow start and escaped their funk and found to their game again and executed well again and sailed home to the win. FC Bayern Basketball 2 began defending very aggressive and got 5 stops which led to 7 unanswered points as Munich cut Frankfurt´s lead to 67-53 as Calamita scored twice and Dominik Dolic nailed a three pointer. Jamie Edoka stopped the run with a lay in and Albrecht hit a trey for the 72-55 advantage. The guests stayed strong as Calamita remained unstoppable in the paint area with a lay in while Ivan Volf scored on transition as Frankfurt led only 72-60. However Frankfurt stayed calm under pressure and just relied on their team play and hot shooting and closed out the game strong with a 14-9 run getting timely shots whenever they needed to. Ivan Crnjac came through in the clutch again as he had so many times in the game making a runner and halting the momentary Munich momentum to lead 74-60. Frankfurt buckled down on defense which led to back to back three´s from Bruno Albrecht extending Frankfurt´s lead to 81-63. Munich got to the free throw line, but couldn´t make any ground and Frankfurt slammed the door shut on FC Bayern Basketball 2 with a nifty Edoka left handed lay in and Hecker three pointer for the win. “I was very proud how we finished the game. We played sloppy and then to be able to turn it around the way we did isn´t self evident with a young team like ours. I give a lot of credit to Hadenfeldt and Hecker for their leadership qualities”, stressed Bruno Albrecht. “We started aggressive and hit more shots, but couldn´t hold it very long”, said Federico Perego. The Skyliners Juniors were led by Bruno Albrecht with 27 points while Ivan Crnjac added 14 points and Philipp Hadenfeldt 12 points while FC Bayern basketball were led by Marco Frank with 18 points and Amar Licina had 10 points. The Skyliners Juniors shot 56% from the field and 60% from outside and had 32 rebounds and 18 turnovers while FC Bayern basketball shot 41% from the field and 13% from outside and had 38 rebounds and 14 turnovers.