After a brutal 115-105 loss in Leitershofen, the Dragons Rhondorf were having serious soul searching and wondering how and when they could turn around their defensive woes in the Pro B? It was the clash of two 4-3 teams with the Dragons Rhondorf against the Frankfurt Skyliners Juniors. The Dragons Rhondorf may have a shaky defense, but their offense and three point shooting was incredible as they came in shooting 43% with 6 guys shooting over 40%. Frankfurt on the other hand also rely on their guard terror led by Bruno Albrecht and Felix Hecker and were shooting 38% as a team coming in. The Dragons Rhondorf needed a real strong week of practice especially on the defensive end as they had much to clean up. Rhondorf had another solid offensive performance, but missed golden opportunities late in the fourth quarter to seal the win, but instead came out flat in overtime to lose 93-86 to Frankfurt. “We had our ups and downs in the game. This was our second game in a row that we let out of our hands. We couldn´t get stops or score in crunch-time. Our biggest problems was rebounding and getting stops. We took good care of the ball. That was the only positive thing”, commented Dragons Rhondorf guard Alexander Lagermann. The Frankfurt Skyliners Juniors got good support from so many sides including a big man monster in Malick Kordel (211-C-2004) and the clutch performances of Jamie Edoka and Ivan Crnjac in the overtime that helped them get the win. “We played very well as a team. Even if we didn´t have Bruno Albrecht, we were very focused. Our bench was great and we played very physical. When they made runs, we didn´t sink our heads, but fought back. Our young guys played really well in overtime”, said Malick Kordel.

Namori Omog at the FT line

The Frankfurt Skyliners Juniors arrived in Bad Honnef with an injured Bruno Albrecht who had hurt his finger and would miss 2 weeks while the Dragons were without youngster Janne Muller who had accompanied the BBL team Telekom Baskets Bonn to Munich. Both teams found their offensive rhythm rapidly especially Felix Hecker who scored Frankfurt´s first 10 points, but led only 10-6 as the Dragons got 2 three´s from ex Drake (NCAA) player Antonio Pilipovic and Ohio native Tim Smith Jr. Hecker had a big opportunity to excel with the absence of Albrecht and he took full advantage of it. Frankfurt also received great production from their young NBBL players as Ivan Crnjac and Maximilian Peters scored for the 15-12 advantage. The game remained tight as the Dragons also got a huge basket from youngster Dyami Jannek who as usual supplied epic energy from the bench while Kordel made a thunderous dunk as Frankfurt kept supplying him with the ball, but he also opened up the floor with his body as he used his good passing skills to find open guys. Rhondorf got some vital baskets down the stretch to tie the game at 21-21 as ex Coburg foreward Danas Kazakevicius and Las Vegas native Kelvin Omojola scored. However Frankfurt got the last laugh as Dusan Nikolic snuck back door and got the basket for the Frankfurt 23-21 lead after 10 minutes. Frankfurt shot 50% from the 2 point range and 38% from outside and had 12 rebounds and 2 turnovers while the Dragons Rhondorf shot 54% from the 2 point range and 29% from outside and had 9 rebounds and 0 turnovers. “Hecker was motivated and took advantage of Albrecht´s absence. The Dragons didn´t defend bad, but it wasn´t easy containing Malick Kordel as he played very well and found his teammates for the back door cuts”, stated Hamm head coach Ivan Rosic.

Alexander lagerman at the FT line

The Frankfurt Skyliners Juniors switched to zone at the start of the second quarter and went on a run to lead in double figures, but the Dragons fought back and led 39-37 at the break. The Dragons had no remedy how to defeat the Frankfurt zone as they got stopped 6 times and got baskets from Peters with a lay in while Albert Schweitzer winner Philipp Hadenfeldt supplied 5 points for the 32-21 lead. The Dragons Rhondorf finally got their first field goal at the 4,42 minute mark as Lagerman made a steal and went coast to coast for the lay in as they trailed 32-24. The Dragons began to recuperate and add more energy to defense and went on a lethal 15-5 run to have the 2 point advantage at half-time. Kazakevicius was really key in the run making a three on his first attempt of the season and made a big dunk. Marko Rosic also made a lay in where he found daylight and went coast to coast, but also was a superb pick and roll player with Kazakevicius. “You can´t forget that Marko isn´t 100% fit again. He still has problems with his shooting hand. But he still has enough other good qualities that allows him to find his teammates and when his shot isn´t falling can sill do other good things”, stated Ivan Rosic. Frankfurt lost total rhythm on offense as the Dragons defense was a lot better with communication. Lagerman closed out the second quarter with a floater for the Dragons lead at the break. “At the start the Dragons had no offensive rhythm and went more to 1-1 play. They then got on transition and attacked more and had better rotations on defense and just fought to come back”, said Ivan Rosic. The Dragons Rhondorf shot 56% from the 2 point range and 24% from the three point line and had 24 rebounds and 2 turnovers while the Dragons Rhondorf shot 48% from the 2 point range and shot 27% from the three point line and had 19 rebounds and 8 turnovers.

Philipp Hadenfeldt from outside

In the third quarter both teams exploded on offense combining for 55 points, but after 30 minutes the Dragons Rhondorf led 69-62. Both teams found to their offense rhythm´s quickly as Pilpovic nailed a trey and Omojola made a lay in and Lagerman a turnaround shot while Hecker hit 2 three´s to keep Frankfurt at bay and only down 48-45. However the Dragons Rhondorf had good spurts on the defensive end getting consecutive stops and then took advantage of it as Alex Lagerman dropped back to back three´s keeping his great shooting at 18/22 this season form downtown as the Dragons led 54-49. Marko Rosic and Kazakevicius followed his lead getting buckets as Rhondorf led 59-50. But whenever the Dragons punched, Frankfurt were able to punch back as Mr energizer Philipp Hadenfeldt nailed 2 three pointers as Frankfurt trailed only 63-60. But Frankfurt had too many up and down phases as the Dragons just executed well and showed a solid inside out game as ex RheinStar guard Kenan Reinhart made a trey and Kazakevicius scored twice for the 68-62 lead after 3 quarters. “You can´t give any player in this league open looks. A Hadenfeldt will make those shots. We closed out the quarter strong though”, said Alexander Lagerman. “They hit way too many shots. Hadenfeldt gave great energy and kept us in the game”, stated Malick Kordel. The Frankfurt Skyliners Juniors shot 54% from the 2 point range and 33% from the parking lot and had 30 rebounds and 13 turnovers while the Dragons Rhondorf shot 46% from the 2 point range and 36% from the parking lot and 33 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

Alexander Lagerman to the rim

In the fourth quarter the Dragons Rhondorf controlled the game, but Frankfurt continued to hang around and forced overtime at 85-85. The young Frankfurt guns of Crnjac and Edoka made big baskets, but Rhondorf always punched back as Pilipovic made a big trey and Rosic a floater for the 74-70 Dragons lead. But Frankfurt was relentless and never gave up and the universal genius Ivan Crnjac drilled home a trey and Kordel made a free throw to tie the game at 74-74. But Frankfurt couldn´t hold the momentum as the Dragons punched back and went on a 7-2 run to lead 81-76 as ex Jena forward Marco Rahn made a pretty fade away jumper while Omojola made a three pointer and Kazekevicius a lay in. But Frankfurt always found an answer as Felix Hecker nailed a trey and Edoka made a lay in to tie the contest 81-81. Rahn and Rosic then made lay in´s for the 85-82 lead. It looked like the Dragons had the game in their hands with time running out, but they gave it up. Hecker made one free throw and purposely missed the second which Kordel dunked home to send the game into overtime. “Our will was great. We wanted it more than they did. Hecker wanted to miss the second shot. I give a lot of credit to Joscha Zentgraf who tipped me the ball”, added Malick Kordel. “That last basket was the game changer. It hurt our moral going into overtime”, said Alexander Lagerman. In overtime there was only one team who competed as the Frankfurt Skyliners Juniors won it 8-1 not allowing a field goal. Frankfurt played with massive intensity at both ends and attacked the rim 4 times and scored with Kordel, Hecker, Edoka and Crnjac. “We were all tired, but we wanted it more. We had good possessions and it seemed like they didn´t know what they wanted to do”, stressed malik Kordel. “We had no energy and missed too many shots. It was all mental on our end. They just continued to play their game consistently”, said Alexander Lagerman. Key in overtime was of course the team, but Frankfurt´s 2 NBBL (U-19) guys Ivan Crnjac and Edoka were brilliant. They didn´t only add baskets, but Crnjac got 2 offensive rebounds while Edoka 1 of 4 blocks on the night. “They played super. They gave great energy and hustled great. They made good decisions and played good team basketball”, stated Malick Kordel. “They are 2 super prospects. When they play with confidence, then they can play well in the Pro B. Their energy carried the team which led to easy baskets”, added Alexander Lagerman. The Frankfurt Skyliners Juniors were led by Felix Hecker with 27 points while Malick Kordel added 16 points, 21 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks while Philipp Hadenfeldt contributed 15 points while the Dragons Rhondorf were led by Alexander Lagerman with 19 points while Danas Kazakevicius added 16 points. Frankfurt shot 45% from the field and 30% from outside and had 57 rebounds and 18 turnovers while the Dragons Rhondorf shot 36% from the field and 30% from outside and had 42 rebounds and 6 turnovers.