After more than 6 weeks on the road, the Frankfurt Skyliners finally were back in their own living room. They couldn´t take advantage of the road posting a dismal 1-4 record, but did reach the BBL cup top 4 with a big win in Goettingen. Despite that, they then lost a tough game in Wurzburg being totally overpowered in the last quarter. With a poor 2-7 record and near the BBL cellar, they were more than desperate for a win against the pesky 4-4 Braunschweig team who came to Frankfurt with a 2 game winning streak. An old friend was back for his third tour of duty with the Skyliners with Jordan Theodore who helped Frankfurt win the Fiba Europe Cup title in 2016. Frankfurt had a must win situation as another loss would continue their downward spiral in the standings. Despite another great scoring performance of the American duo of Calvin and Parsons who combined for 46 points, the Frankfurt Skyliners lost a heartbreaker 92-91 to the Basketball Lowen Braunschweig. Frankfurt fought hard for 40 minutes, but at the end it was the little mistakes that cost them the win. “We began the game very well playing at a high level. We played with a lot of confidence and had a good flow. But in the second quarter our tempo slowed up. We have to be able to maintain a high intensity and energy for 40 minutes. We lost focus mentally. It began with me and that trickled down to the rest”, stressed Frankfurt Skyliner Jordan Theodore. Braunschweig did a good job punching back whenever Frankfurt punched first and just did a great job staying poised in crunch-time and took advantage of the little mistakes that Frankfurt made. “We had a tough start as Frankfurt executed very well and hit shots. We knew we had to get stops in the second half and did a better job playing defense. Our biggest strength tonight was our grit. We never gave up. It was a real challenge playing against Calvin and Parsons”, stressed Braunschweig guard TJ Crockett (187-G-1999, college: Lindenwood).

David Muenkat at the FT line

5000 fans showed up in the Suwag arena in Frankfurt on a Friday night and saw the Frankfurt Skyliners totally overpower Braunschweig in the first quarter netting 31 points. Both teams found their rhythm quickly as ex Kentucky (NCAA) forward Tre Mitchell got his stroke going early netting 5 points, while Jordan Theodore found his touch as well making a trey. Frankfurt also got the arena cooking early as Canadian David Muenkat went coast to coast with a thunderous 2 handed dunk that had many in the arena jumping up and down as Frankfurt led 9-5. Frankfurt continued to execute well as Theodore launched another trey and connected and Einaras Tubutis made a lay in for the 16-10 lead, but Braunschweig punched back with a deep trey by Luka Scuka and a trey by TJ Crockett who had a little Damian Lillard going with his step back jumper to dead lock the contest at 16-16. “I hope it looked a little like him. I really try to imitate his game”, smiled TJ Crockett. But then out of nowhere the Frankfurt Skyliners exploded on a 15-4 run to lead 31-20 after one quarter. Ex Wright State guard Trey Calvin scored 8 unanswered points showing his potent scoring abilities with 2 three´s and a step back jumper. Parsons added free throws in the attack while Brenneke made a lay in and Calvin ended the scoring display with another three pointer. Frankfurt lived off their 1-1 play and totally flaunted it while Braunschweig got lost in Frankfurt´s momentum. “Every team is good in the BBL. They played pretty well for their spot in the standings. They executed at a high level”, stressed Ty Crockett.

Luka Scuka from outside

The Frankfurt Skyliners kept control in the second quarter, but allowed Braunschweig to get dangerously close in the last minutes and led only by 5 points at the break. Both teams produced runs in the first minutes as the guests began well with a 7-1 run as 2019 JBBL MVP Benjamin Schroeder got a lay in, Lithuanian point guard Arnas Velickas hit a deep three pointe and ex G-League player Barra Njie made a lay in as Frankfurt led only 32-27. However Frankfurt punched back with a 7-3 run to lead 38-30. In the run Muenkat delivered a hook shot while Theodore made 2 finger tip lay in´s as his speed and execution on the drive looked spot on and like 9 years ago when he was in Frankfurt for his first tour of duty. Frankfurt came back being aggressive on offense getting easy buckets in the paint from Brenneke and Coplin to lead 43-34. Braunschweig had their down phases on defense lacking intensity at times and Frankfurt took advantage of their little mistakes. The game of runs continued as Braunschweig punched back with a 8-2 run to trail 45-43. Braunschweig got the free throw line and continued to attack the paint area and used their quickness and athleticism to tear apart Frankfurt as Crockett and ex Vechta American Chavaras Flanigan scored easily while Velicka added 4 points in the run. “Ar as we call Velicka really runs the point well. He made big plays and is a big part of your success”, added Ty Crockett. Frankfurt got a massive basket at the end from ex Bremerhaven guard Garai Zeeb who made the most of his opportunity with limited minutes as he drilled home a three pointer and the 48-43 advantage at the break. “We had to get stops. We made it as difficult as possible for them and got out on transition”, said TJ Crockett.

Jordan Theodore with the finger tip lay in

The Basketball Lowen Braunschwieg had their strongest scoring quarter in the third quarter netting 26 points and stealing the lead back and led by 4 points after 30 minutes. Frankfurt came out slow and gave up 9 unanswered points as Braunschweig stole the lead back at 52-48. In the run the guests attacked the paint area getting free throws from Scuka and Njie while German Sanada Fru and Velicka scored easy lay ups. Frankfurt needed some instant energy and got it from 2024 Danish champion Malik Parsons who produced 6 points to tie the game at 54-54. Braunschweig kept chipping away and got free throws from Fru and another trey from Velicka to lead 59-54, but the one man show from Parsons continued as he made free throws and another lay in as Frankfurt trailed 59-56. Braunschweig continued to do a good job getting to the free throw line as Scuka and Flanigan scored to lead 65-58. If it wasn´t Parsons, then it was Calvinthzat showed responsibility and a real potent scoring attack as he steered home 5 straight points as Frankfurt trailed 65-63. Frankfurt continued to have massive difficulty with their 1-1 defense as Flanigan and ex Giessen guard Ferdinand Zylka scored for the 69-63. Frankfurt was lucky at the end that Velicka missed 2 free throws and served up an airball as they took advantage of that getting an off balance jumper from Minnesota native Booker Coplin in the corner to trail 69-65. “We rebounded better and got out on transition. We also got more touches inside and got to the free throw line and also made big plays”, stated TY Crockett. “We started slow and had no rhythm. That wasn´t Skyliner basketball. Parsons and Calvin were hot the whole game. I had to feed them the ball”, added Jordan Theodore.

Tre Mitchell at the FT line

In the fourth quarter the Frankfurt Skyliners just kept battling and never gave up. They received big shots from their American duo of Calvin and Parsons, but just couldn´t get totally over the hump. Frankfurt really did a good job all game long being aggressive and doing all they could to get to the rim. In the first few minutes of the fourth quarter they were rewarded with free throws from Parsons and Coplin and Parsons then nailed a trey to tie the game at 73-73. Mitchell gave braunschweig some energy with a pretty three pointer, but Frankfurt always had an answer as Parsons drilled home a three pointer to trail 78-77. Frankfurt continued to get no stops in the paint as Njie got free throws and even was aggressive on the offensive glass with a tip in and 84-79 Braunschweig lead. Frankfurt continued to have answers and executed well as Theodore made free throws and a lay in and Calvin nailed a deep three pointer to tie the game at 84-84 with 54 seconds remaining. Mitchell then countered with a pretty hook shot, but Parsons punched back with a lay in to tie the game at 86-86. ““We showed that we were mentally strong. We have had some tough loses this season. We showed resilience. We had a good attitude and just kept chipping away”, added Jordan Theodore. “We stayed together and just kept fighting. We never gave up”, warned Ty Crockett. With 15 seconds remaining, Ty Crockett made a clutch three pointer for the 89-86 lead. Calvin then made free throws to trail 89-88. Crockett them made one free throw and then got a crucial offensive rebound off his miss. That led to 2 more Velicka free throws and the 92-88 Braunschweig lead. “I was surprised I got back into the game. I had minutes restriction after coming back from injury. But coach drew up a play for me. I found my spot and made it”, stressed Ty Crockett. “The offensive rebound by Crockett was my fault. It bounced right back to him. That was crazy”, stressed Jordan Theodore. With 2,5 seconds to go and down 4 points, Trey Calvin made a crazy half court shot that banked in. Any other situation, it would have been the shot of the year and the arena would have been bedlam. Instead the arena was very quiet after it dropped in. “Maybe the league should make a 4 point shot. The arena would have gone crazy if it had been a 4 point shot”, smiled Jordan Theodore. The Basketball Lowen Braunschweig were led by Barra Njie, Arnas Velica and Luka Scuka with 15 points a piece while the Frankfurt Skyliners were led by Trey Calvin with 24 points and malik Parsons added 22 points. The Basketball Lowen Braun schweig shot 47% from the field and 33% from outside and had 25 rebounds and 14 turnovers while the Frankfurt Skyliners shot 55% from the field and 61% from outside and had 34 rebounds and 20 turnovers.