With March having arrived, the Pro B south playoff race is in high gear and very exciting. There was only 1 game difference in wins from position 11 to 5. The German Pro B had been on a little 2 week break because of the Fiba window. The Skyliners Juniors came into the game sporting a 10-9 record. They had been playing good ball as of late having won 3 of 4 games, but entered the break on a sour note as they lost 86-81 in Wurzburg. No opponent in the Pro B is a cake walk as they faced 9-10 team Coburg who is the farm team of easyCredit BBL team Bamberg. They came into the game up and down having lost 2 of their 3 last games. However they were tough on the road having a 5-4 record. Like Frankfurt, they were a club with many talented young Germans as well as a dominant import with American Zach Hinton. On a mild March afternoon, the Skyliners Juniors came out and were able to stay with BBC Coburg in the first half, but a rough 12-0 run by the guests in the third quarter paved the way for them as Frankfurt couldn´t recover and lost 88-76. In the second half, BBC Coburg adjusted well and Frankfurt just couldn´t get over the hump. “We didn´t defend well in the game. Our communication wasn´t good either and we weren´t all on the same page. We didn´t execute the way we should of at both ends on the court”, stressed Skyliner Junior Chuku Chukwuma. The energy of BBC Coburg played a big role in the win. “We played together and with a lot of energy. They came out strong, but once we were able to match their energy and get the lead in the second half, we kept it. We really locked down on defense. We switched a lot when Kordel was on the bench. Our help defense was good, but all in all, it was our energy that was the difference”, stressed BBC Coburg forward Zach Hinton.

Ben Diederichs at the FT line

Both teams began with a bang as 205cm big man Ben Diederichs (205-SF-2005) made a massive dunk on transition and ex Iserlohn center Malik Kordel stepped it up with a thunderous alley-oop dunk. “Malik is 216cm. That is what he does. He is a big danger on the pick and roll. He is almost always an automatic bucket. The team is learning to find him better on the pick and roll”, stated Florian Dietrich. Diederichs then dropped free throws and Joscha Zentgraf found Kordel for the lay in to tie the game at 4-4. Both teams had offensive rhythm and executing and punched back and forth. Norway native Tobias Rotegaard who was the teammate of current NBA player Cam Thomas at Oak Hill academy hit a trey as did 2023 JBBL finalist Ivan Crnjak to dead lock the game at 9-9. The Skyliners Juniors then took advantage of some sloppy play of BBC Coburg and turnovers led to back to back baskets by ex Hanau forward Fabian Baumgarten for the 15-11 Frankfurt advantage. Chukwuma and young talent Jamie Edoka also scored for the 20-15 lead. Ex Breitengussbach guard Marlon Stephan added a clutch three pointer, but Malik Kordel set an exclamation point on the first quarter with another hard dunk for the 22-18 lead after 10 minutes. The Skyliners Juniors shot 53% from the field and 33% from outside and had 12 rebounds and 6 turnovers while BBC Coburg shot 35% from the field and 29% from outside and had 8 rebounds and 5 turnovers.

Dusan Nikolic to the hole

In the second quarter the Skyliners Juniors managed the lead well for some minutes but BBC Coburg never stopped fighting and got the lead the led back and led by 5 points at the break. Ivan Crnjak gave the Skyliners Juniors instant energy with consecutive three´s, but BBC Coburg punched back with a Diederichs lay in and Stephan trey, but Frankfurt still led 28-23. However BBC Coburg kept attacking the paint and executed well on the side pick and roll as Diederichs scored twice and Rotegaard scored getting the pretty pass from Nico Wenzl to dead lock the game at 30-30. Frankfurt then went on a 5-0 run as Chukwuma nailed a trey and Edoka made a lay in. However BBC Coburg stormed back closing out the second quarter in strong fashion romping all over Frankfurt with a 18-8 run to lead 48-43 at half-time. In the run, it was Tobias Rotegaard that led the charge with 10 points and 3 three´s while Austrian Nico Hollerl scored while Abdelkahar Karioui scored twice showcasing his athleticism and quickness. BBC Coburg took advantage of Kordel being on the bench and switched everything and just executed well and played nice inside out basketball while Frankfurt were sloppy at both ends. BBC Coburg shot 55% from the field and 54% from the three point line and had 15 rebounds and 9 turnovers while the Skyliners juniors shot 50% from the field and 44% from the three point line and had 18 rebounds and 9 turnovers. “The three pointer and one and another three pointer by Rotegaard hurt us badly. They did a good job switching on us when Kordel was on the bench. Chukwuma kept us in the game. He usually had shown us his good shooting, but today he showed how athletic he was”, stated Florian Dietrich.

Nico Wenzl from outside

The turning point of the contest came in the third quarter. Despite a great start for the Skyliners Juniors, they couldn´t keep the momentum as BBC Coburg punched back with a bigger run and never looked back managing the lead until the end. The Skyliners Juniors stepped up the defense securing 5 stops and scored 4 times to get the 51-48 lead. In the run, Frankfurt attacked the rim as Jamie Edoka made a 10 footer and lay in, while Chukwuma scored inside and Kordel made another dunk. However Frankfurt couldn´t keep the intensity and allowed a brutal 12-0 run to give BBC Coburg the 60-51 advantage. In the run, BBC Coburg began with back to back lay in´s from Nate Hinton who was a beast on the defensive rebound, while Rotegaard hit a 20 footer and Nico Wenzl connected on back to back three pointers. Frankfurt stopped the BBC Coburg run with back to back buckets from Chukwuma and Dusan Nikolic, but BBC Coburg punched back with a three pointer by role player Sean Ludwig and another Hinton lay in as BBC Coburg led 65-57 after 3 quarters. “We got the momentum in our run. We were able to match their energy. We knew how important this game for us were and were able to make the needed defensive adjustments”, added Nate Hinton. “We didn´t play well in that 12-0 run. We simply lost our focus”, commented Chuko Chukwuma. BBC Coburg shot 50% from the field and 50% from the parking lot and had 27 rebounds and 14 turnovers while the Skyliners juniors shot 45% from the field and 29% from the parking lot and had 25 rebounds and 10 turnovers.

Chuko Chukwuma at the FT line

In the fourth quarter the Skyliners Juniors executed well on offense, but couldn´t string along many defensive stops. They were able to cut the BBC Coburg lead down to 4, but that was as close as they would get as the guests finished the game strong. Dusan Nikolic was a walking bucket in the first minutes as he led the Skyliners Juniors on a 9-5 run to trail BBC Coburg only 70-66. Nikolic scored all 9 points starting with a nice dunk on transition, lay in, free throws and three pointer. However BBC Coburg then decided the game with a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 79-68. In the run, BBC Coburg got a trey by Rotegaard and they did a good job getting to the free throw line as Hinton and Rotegaard scored. Diederichs also scored. Malik Kordel had been hit with his fifth foul at the start of the run opening up the paint area for BBC Coburg. Nikolic continued to be in attack mode and used that unique combination of athleticism and swiftness and scored a lay in and made free throws, but Frankfurt couldn´t get over the hump. BBC Coburg continued to execute well on offense as Diederichs scored 2 more times inside and Hinton made a hard dunk to seal the win. “I´m really proud of the guys. Everybody stepped up. We never backed down. Guys that usually don’t get many minutes stepped up in big minutes. We executed well at the end getting the needed stops”, stressed Nate Hinton. “They switched everything on us forcing us to 1-1 and we didn´t move the ball”, stressed Chuko Chukwuma. BBC Coburg was led by Ben Diederichs with 24 points while Tobias Rotegaard added 21 points and Zach Hinton had 11 points while the Skyliners Juniors were led by Dusan Nikolic with 21 points while Chuko Chukwuma added 20 points and Jamie Edoka had 12 points. BBC Coburg shot 52% from the field and 44% from outside and had 33 rebounds and 17 turnovers while the Skyliners juniors shot 46% from the field and 28% from outside and had 32 rebounds and 12 turnovers.