It is always a delight to watch 2 organizations that put a lot of effort, passion and love into their youth programs as the Frankfurt Skyliners and MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg do. Both currently have great young players looking to make the next step. However both teams the Juniors and Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg have struggled as of late having lost 2 of 3 games and 3 of 4 games. A few years ago, Juniors fans were shocked as Sebastian Schwachhofer hit a buzzer beater in Frankfurt to secure the win while this season, Frankfurt won an exciting 82-80 game in Ludwigsburg. On a untypical Wednesday evening Pro B game, Frankfurt welcomed Ludwigsburg and fans were able to see Junior newcomer Chrysostom Chukwuma from Finland for the first time. He was reeled in because German Philipp Hadenfeld is taking another semester abroad. The Finish guard exploded for 28 points in his Pro B debut in Cologne a few days earlier. On this night Chuku Chukwuma didn´t need another explosive evening as he finished with 13 points, but Frankfurt had enough other scoring options on this night including Ivan Crnjac (203-F-2007) who had a career high with 29 points leading the Skyliners Juniors to a 95-86 victory over Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg. Frankfurt didn´t play their best game as they had a lot of depth compared to Ludwigsburg who had only 8 players for the game. “It wasn´t a great game from us. It was way to close of a game considering we had a full roster and they had 8 guys. But I feel we handled them well. Even if it´s a ugly game, you have to be able to win the game. It wasn´t a great team performance, but we had good ball movement”, stressed Ivan Crnjac. Ludwigsburg fought for 40 minutes and were led by the duo of Feneberg and Baumer who combined for 53 points. “We fought hard and at times played real good basketball. We were a little unlucky at the end. I was happy though how we played despite the thin roster”, stressed Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg head coach Kheeryoung Rhee. Crnjac had his career best in the Pro B tying his brother Drago who also once scored 29 in the Pro B. “It was a very good game performance from me. I´m sad I didn´t make more points. I missed some easy lay ups, but I´m still happy to be tied with my brother”, stated Ivan Crnjac. “I´m a bit mad that he tied my 29 points. He shot very well. He did a good job staying in the game after having 4 fouls in the third quarter. His teammates found him well and he was very effective. He didn´t do anything wild”, stated Drago Crnjac.

Ivan Crnjac at the FT line

The first few minutes of the first quarter were tight, but Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg then got away a bit only to see Frankfurt rally back and lead by 1 point after 10 minutes. In the first few minutes it was apparent to see that the guests were led by 2 guys Julis Baumer and Simon Feneberg who were the main guys running the offense. The U-18 youth national player Baumer added 5 points while Feneberg made a lay in. These guys would prove all night long that they were as good as unstoppable on the drive. Frankfurt on the other-hand were also executing well on offense as the new Skyliner Chuku Chukwuma added 5 points and Crnjac a trey, but Ludwigsburg had the slim 9-8 advantage. “Chuku Chukwuma isn´t only a classic scorer, but also a good passer. He made some nice no look passes. He calmed the team down when we needed it and also showed his strong 1-1 play on offense”, said Skyliner big man Florian Dietrich. Ludwigsburg then went on a 7-2 run to lead 16-10 as Sebastian Kuhn made a lay in, Baumer free throws and Feneberg a three pointer. Ludwigsburg were very aggressive on defense getting in the passing lanes well and causing turnovers while Feneberg was finding his spots well and Baumer was being an energizer and getting into the paint. However Frankfurt found out of their funk and finished the first quarter with a 13-8 run to lead 23-22 after 10 minutes. In the run, Frankfurt let it rain three´s as Crnjac found the hot hand early nailing 2 three´s while Philipp Hadenfeld also connected from outside. Athletric Lukas Modic gave good energy getting in the lane and scoring twice. “It is never easy playing against a team that is without some of their key players. We started slow, but once we realized that we could play well against 8, we executed better. It was also important that Chukwuma d to get integrated as he played well”, stated Florian Dietrich. The Skyliners Juniors shot 44% from the field and 57% from outside and had 11 rebounds and 6 turnovers while Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg shot 47% from the field and 25% from outside and had 9 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

Simon Feneberg from down town

The second quarter was a real dog fight for the most part, but in the waning minutes of the quarter, the Skyliners Juniors were able to spring free and lead by 10 points at half-time. Frankfurt kept the momentum from the end of the first quarter getting some easy baskets in the first minutes as they went inside. Dusan Nikolic who had a great 20/9/10 game against Nurnberg in NBBL play this season made a lay in while Malik Kordel made 2 dunks including a pretty alley-oop dunk with the prefect feed from Hadenfeld for the 30-25 lead. Modic hit a trey as Ludwigsburg was opting for the outside shooting. Ludwigsburg kept executing well staying with Frankfurt as Marko Masic hit a trey and Baumer scored inside. Long injured Julius Messer also added a three pointer, but the guests were on their tail trailing only 35-34. Frankfurt then got hot again finishing the second quarter with a 15-6 run to lead 50-40 at the break. Nikolic began the drive with an incredible 2 handed dunk from the wing. So what dunk was nicer the Kordel alley-oop or the Nikolic dunk? “Kordel´s was nicer simply because he jumped higher”, said Florian Dietrich. “I think Kordel´s dunk was a little more special”, smiled Ivan Crnjac. Frankfurt got good production from many sides as ex Hanau guard Bruno Albrecht nailed a trey while Jamie Edoka scored twice inside as did Chuku Chukwuma. Kordel made a lay in at the buzzer getting the prefect pass from Chuku Chukwuma. “We played a lot better against their pick and roll defense. Kordel got more touches inside”, said Florian Dietrich. The Skyliners Juniors shot 54% from the field and 50% from the three point line and had 23 rebounds and 11 turnovers while Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg shot 42% from the field and 28% from the three point line and had 16 rebounds and 8 turnovers.

Dusan Nikolic with the dunk

In the third quarter the Skyliners Juniors did a good job managing their lead, but got a little sloppy in the last minutes allowing Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg to get close again, but then kept them at bay leading by 5 points after 30 minutes. Frankfurt got early support from Bruno Albrecht with another trey while Kordel and Hadenfeldt hooked up again for the dunk and dime. Feneberg continued to be all over the court finding his spots and dropping 2 three´s. Both teams were executing well as Frankfurt got a Crnjac three pointer and step back by ex Kronberg guard Felix Hecker as Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg just couldn´t make any serious ground as they trailed 60-50. After Crnjac made a trey for the 63-50 lead, Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg went on a massive 12-1 run to suddenly only trail 64-62 and it was a game again. In the run, Ludwigsburg got a nice tip in dunk by 205cm Daniel Mack and a trey by Masic while Julis Baumer led the charge with 7 points. “I have a lot of respect for Baumer. I know him since many years. He had made a great development this season and has seen BBL action. He has a lot of potential”, warned Ivan Crnjac. Baumer´s incredible energy sparked his team in this run as Frankfurt had lost intensity and had problems with their aggressive on ball defense. However Frankfurt kept their cool as utility guy Marvin Esser made 2 vital and clutch buckets to help keep the lead at 69-64 after 30 minutes. Esser had 5/4 stats in 6 minutes and couldn´t have been more efficient. “One could see that we were missing experience. Guys have had to take on different roles in the last weeks. Having guys out makes a difference, “added Kheeryoung Rhee. “We executed well and had important stops in key phases. They got too many easy baskets”, commented Ivan Crnjac. The Skyliners Juniors shot 53% from the field and 41% from the parking lot and had 31 rebounds and 17 turnovers while Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg shot 47% from the field and 35% from the parking lot and had 21 rebounds and 10 turnovers.

Julis Baumer at the FT line

In the fourth quarter Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg kept fighting and cut Frankfurt´s lead down to 1 poins, but they just couldn´t get over the hump as Frankfurt prevailed and broke away in crunch-time. Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg began with a 5-2 run to trail 71-69 as Simon Feneberg made all 5 points. Even if it was the fourth quarter, it didn´t seem like Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg was getting weaker. Their energy was still as high as the first quarter. Crnjac continued to execute making a back door lay in and trey while Feneberg hit a 20 footer as Frankfurt led 76-71. After a Hadenfeld 15 footer and 78-71 Frankfurt lead, it seemed like maybe this was the time for the guests to throw in the towel, but no Feneberg continued to execute and was a real one man wrecking crew. He made 6 points in a row as Frankfurt led only 78-77. Feneberg actually had made 13 points in a row. Frankfurt continued to execute well getting a floater from Chukwuma and a trey from Crnjac for the 83-78 lead. Crnjac made 4 more free throws for the 87-80 lead. Feneberg continued to do his thing making free throws for the 87-82 lead. Baumer then got his 2 flagrant foul and had to depart the game. Albert and Crnjac then sealed the win with 5 free throws for the 91-82 lead. Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg now was deep in the hole deep and wasn´t going to break free. Feneberg made a lay in and that was his 20th consecutive points. Kuhn then made free throws as did Kordel and Chukwuma to end the game. “We had some luck. Important that they had 5 team fouls early. That made it easy for me to get easy baskets. They had 5 teams fouls and we could still play hard”, expressed Ivan Crnjac. “We were too nervous and not disciplined enough. We had it in our own hands, but didn´t have enough self-confidence”, warned Kheeryoung Rhee. The Skyliners Juniors were led by Ivan Crnjac with 29 points. Chuku Chukwuma added 13 points and Malick Kordel 12 points while Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg was led b Simon Feneberg with 33 points while Julis Baumer added 20 points. The Skyliners Juniors shot 53% form the field and 44% from outside and had 39 rebounds and 22 turnovers while Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg shot 47% from the field and 31% from outside and had 26 rebounds and 15 turnovers.