The losing woes of the EPG Guardians Koblenz continue in 2025. They are still winless in 2025 as they were riding a 6 game losing streak. It seemed like the confidence level continued to sink with every new loss. Injuries have plagued them all season long and even sickness cost them games in the current losing streak. Defense continues to be an issue, but also shooting as they just couldn´t find any consistency this season. Things didn´t get any easier for the 16th placed team as the 4th best team in the Pro A came to Koblenz. Giessen is a team that is dying to get back to the easyCredit BBL and currently had won 6 out of their last 8 games. They are a team with very talented guards, a big time veteran in Robin Benzing and very smart bigs from the Balkan area. On a untypical Thursday night, the CGM arena wasn´t as packed as usual as once again home fans were unable to see a complete game from the EPG Guardians as they had a solid first half, but stunk up the second half allowing 49 points and losing 89-60. It is really a riddle how the EPG Guardians continue to be able to play solid basketball and then go from such a high to such a low. “We had a good first half, but we simply lack experience. We also had too many turnovers from our guards. We didn´t get enough inside scores. Giessen is a top team. They can win the Pro A title”, warned EPG Guardians head coach Marco Van Den Berg. Giessen didn´t play their best in the first half, but even at 60% were good enough to secure the lead. In the second half, they really turned up their game and Koblenz had no answer. “We didn´t come out with the energy that we needed. We knew that they were an aggressive offensive rebounding team. We settled in after their run and got more relaxed. It was a decent first half for us. We have a deep roster and just kept going at them. We did a good job stopping their strengths. We had a good start to the second half and then at our foot on the game”, warned Giessen 46er Aiden Warnholtz (188-G-2000, college: Carleton). Giessen did a good job limiting TJ Cockfield to only 4 points inn the second half. “They did a good job taking my game away”, stressed TJ Cockfield.

Ty Cockfield at the FT line

The EPG Guardians were without new player Brandon Averette who had the flu, but other than that were complete as was Giessen. The EPG Guardians Koblenz surprised everyone coming out and smacking Giessen with a lethal 12-1 run. Koblenz came out with high intensity and a physicality that Giessen couldn´t match. Czech player David Bohm played his inside out game to perfection scoring 7 points while American TY Cockfield found his spots early adding 5 points. Giessen seemed shocked, but they didn´t have the normal intensity. The body language of Koblenz was magnificent and they were presenting different defenses and not allowing Giessen to get into a rhythm. But basketball is a game of runs and making adjustments and that is what Giessen did. They slowly settled down and found into their sets and a rhythm and closed out the first quarter with a 18-7 run to dead lock the game at 19-19 after 10 minutes. Canadian Aiden Warnholtz had been out for many months and had only played one game since scoring 4 points. In the run he nailed 2 three´s and had 8 points. Ex Bremerhaven guard Simon Krajcovic also drilled home a trey. Serbian beast Simon Kovacevic also added a nasty poster on David Bohm. “That was sweet. The whole set up was done well. He made good reads and got free. It was fun to watch”, said Aiden Warnholtz. TJ Cockfield continued to get to the hole getting 2 buckets and keeping the Guardians in the game. “After their run, we did a good job not allowing easy offensive rebounds. Once we got some stops and saw some balls go in, it got easier for us as we were more relaxed”, stressed Aiden Warnholtz.

Mladen Vujic to the hole

In the second quarter the game was at eye level as no team could break away from the other. Despite Giessen´s good ending to the first quarter, it was the EPG Baskets Koblenz that got out of the gates stronger in the second quarter. Koblenz went on a 6-2 run to lead 25-21. Bohm continued to be aggressive and wanting to shine and nailed a trey while ex BBL player Leon Friederici made a lay in. However the Giessen bigs weren´t the only concern for Marco van Den Berg, but also Giessen´s guard play. Out of seemingly no where the guests pulled out a lethal 9-0 run as Warnholtz stroked home 2 three´s and ex Xavier (NCAA) guard Kyle Castlin hit one as Giessen led 30-25. Koblenz wasn´t showing that high intensity and were bewildered by the Giessen ball movement and open shots. Luckily for the EPG Guardians, they were in a phase where their offense was executing. Cockfield continued to make his shots as he scored twice as did role player Ben Stevens while Giessen got a three from ex national player Robin Benzing and a Castlin lay in as Giessen led 35-31. The EPG Guardians Koblenz continued to punch back, but couldn´t get over the hump. Giessen did a good job being aggressive and getting to the free throw line while the Guardians received two buckets from Friederici. The EPG Guardians had good shooting percentages of 54% from the field and 71% from the two point area while Giessen was at 44% from the field and from outside. Koblenz also had the rebound edge 17-12 and only 9 turnovers while Giessen had 10 turnovers, but were still down by 4 points. The three ball from Giessen cost them the lead at the break. “We had problems containing Cockfield. He is a good player and they have good players. Our offense was pretty good. We had a few bad lapses, but overall happy to have the lead at the break”, stated Aiden Warnholtz.

Ty Cockfield with the off balance shot

The turning point of the game came in the third quarter as Giessen shifted up a few notches on defense allowing only 10 points and finding a beautiful flow on offense as they scored 25 points and led by 19 points after 30 minutes. Cockfield actually began the second half with a basket as Koblenz trailed only 40-38. But the Giessen 46ers then went on a 14-2 run which the EPG Guardians couldn´t recover from trailing 52-40. Ex Frankfurt Skyliner Kevin Mcclain was instrumental in the run nailing back to back three´s as his microwave abilities do remind one of Vinnie Johnson from back in the day. Mcclain also fed Kovacevic with a pretty alley-oop. “Mcclain did a good job going down hill and finding him for the dunk. Kovacevic is very athletic and gets up there”, stated Aiden Warnholtz. Ex Nurnberg big man Jonathan Maier made back to back baskets while Leon Friederici answered with a reverse lay up and ex North Kentucky University (NCAA) guard Michael Bradley made a 20 footer to keep track to trail 56-44. In the first half Koblenz was able to punch back after being punched, but not so much in the third quarter any more. Giessen continued to execute well against the harmless Guardians defense that still couldn´t gain that intensity from the first 4 minutes of the game and closed out the third quarter with a 9-2 run to lead 65-46 and pretty much already decided the game there. In the run, Giessen got to the free throw line and dominated the paint against the harmless Guardians as Giessen´s Serbian duo of Kovacevic and Mladen Vujic scored. The Guardians offense was static and little ball movement as Giessen aggressive on ball pressure led them to 1-1 situations. “We came out with the right energy on defense. We have athletic and smart guys that executed our game plan. On offense we did a good job sharing the ball and attacking their weaknesses”, commented Aiden Warnholtz. “We have to learn to put together 2 good halves. They consuled out our ball movement and fast tuned their defensive principles”, expressed TY Cockfield.T

Jonathan Maier at the FT line

The game was already decided in the fourth quarter and it was 10 minutes of pick up basketball mentality. Giessen began rapidly going on a 7-0 run top extend their lead to 72-46. Warnholtz continued his scoring spree with an off balance shot while ex BBL player and Kirchheim Knight Nico Brauner hit a trey. The EPG Guardians were always a step to slow and were lacking the needed intensity and aggressiveness. After a Bradley off balance shot, Giessen struck back with back to back three´s from Warnholtz and ex Braunschweig forward Luis Figge to extend their lead to 78-48. Team play was non existent with Koblenz as they continued to play 1-1 as if they were on a Sunday stroll on the playground. Friederici was at least successful making 2 difficult buckets while Vujic made an easy lay up for the 80-52 advantage after hauling in a blazing bullet pass from Robin Benzing. “Robin is a very good passer. He sees the floor very well and is smart. He makes those passes all the time”, stated Aiden Warnholtz. The game was long over with a few more minutes to play as Giessen outscored Koblenz 9-7. Giessen got another trey from Nico Brauner while Warnholtz made his last basket of the game while Cockfield and Yassin Mahfouz scored. “We finished the game strong. The game was out of hand. It was only my second game back. I tried to make good use of every minute”, stressed Aiden Warnholtz. “We were trying to pick up our game and figure how to put the ball in the hole and try to get all involved. We simply struggled”, said Ty Cockfield. The Giessen 46ers were led by Aiden Warnholtz with 22 points while Victor Kovacevic added 11 points while the EPG Guardians Koblenz were led by Ty Cockfield with 17 points and Leon Friedirici added 15 points. The Giessen 46ers shot 46% from the field and 46% from outside and had 29 rebounds and 13 turnovers while the EPG Guardians Koblenz shot 45% from the field and 17% from outside and had 33 rebounds and 18 turnovers.