After enjoying the Fiba break recently having had a 3 game winning streak, the Skyliners came out of the break losing 2 road games as suddenly they couldn´t win so easily anymore on the road. Frankfurt wanted to rebound back in their living room against new BBL team Science City Jena who had been up and down in the last month. Both teams had real dominant 1-1 scoring guards with Eric Washington and Isaiah Swope (178-PG-2003, college: St.Louis) and if someone had predicted before the game that one of those would decide the game in crunch-time, then they would have been right. On this day it was Isaiah Swope who had his moment as he was pure Jorden Esc in crunch-time scoring 11 points in a row to decide a game that was pretty even heading to crunch-time. Frankfurt moved to 6-5 and Jena to 4-5. “I feel like we played well in the first quarter. In the second quarter, they came back and rebounded really well. We knew going into the second half that we had to pick up our rebounding and defense and did. We got key stops at the end and hit big shots”, stressed Skyliner Nahiem Alleyne. Science City Jena always had answers in the game especially against Isaiah Swope who they had contained well for 35 minutes, but in crunch-time, they had no solution how to stop him as he led his team to the giant victory. “I felt like we played really solid. We just didn´t make the right plays at the end to win. They made shots and we didn´t. Swope got hot in crunch-time which was the difference”, stressed Science City Jena guard Eric Washington.

Logan Johnson at the FT line

The Skyliners wasted no time finding to their game right away taking a lethal 13-1 lead totally shocking Science City Jena. The Skyliners played with an incredible level of high intensity and aggressiveness on defense that totally stifled the guests. Frankfurt got 7 stops where 4 were turnovers before young German Daniel Biel made the team´s first points with a free throw. Frankfurt got out on transition and got easy buckets as ex Artland Dragon Will Christmas scored three times and did ex G-League slam dunk champion Logan Johnson with a lay in while ex Creighton (NCAA) forward Ryan Hawkins nailed a trey and Till Pape made a tap in. Science City Jena had immense difficulty getting into their sets being totally hectic and trying too hard. Frankfurt were flying all around on defense which led to good offense. Science City Jena finally got an offense rhythm, but got nothing easy from the Skyliners as they had to work for everything. The guests got scorers from ex Hagen forward Naz Bohannon and a trey from Washington to trail 18-10. “Washington is hard to contain. He is always aggressive and finds his way to the hole easier. He is a guy that can change a game. Luckily for Frankfurt, it wasn´t him today”, smiled ex BG Goettingen German Nick Boakye. The Skyliners continued to execute well on offense getting support from the bench as German Radíi Casin made a lay in and Alleyne hit a trey. German Lorenz Bank made a key three pointer in the last minute for Jena, but the Skyliners had the 25-14 advantage after 10 minutes. “The Skyliners came into the game really focused. Jena started slowly and couldn´t move the ball at all. It took Jena a while, but finally found their offensive rhythm as they rebounded better and became more stable on defense allowing less easy baskets”, stated ex EasyCredit BBL player Nick Boakye. The Skyliners shot 53% from the field and 50% from the field and had 11 rebounds and 3 turnovers while Science City Jena shot 26% from the field and 17% from outside and had 14 rebounds and 8 turnovers.

Eric Washington from outside

The Skyliners had good control of the game for the first minutes of the second quarter, but basketball is a game of runs and Science City Jena produced a comeback and suddenly the game was deadlocked, but at the break, Frankfurt was able to grab the lead by 3 points. Frankfurt began well getting to the free throw line while ex Bonn center Til Pape showed his versatility and fine inside out skills for a big man dropping a trey and Radii Casin snuck inside grabbing an offensive rebound and making the put back for the 30-17 advantage. Science City Jena continued to have problems getting good looks against the aggressive Frankfurt defense. However then came that Jena run that nobody expected. Frankfurt didn´t let up on defense, because Jena simply hit really tough shots in their 13-0 run to tie the game at 30-30. The guests got super support from role player Tavian Dunn-Martin from Florida Gulf Coast University (NCAA) as he added two three´s while Bank and Washington made lay in´s. “Ex Bochum forward Keith Braxton also made a runner. Frankfurt lost their offensive rhythm as they were forcing too much and got away from Frankfurt basketball. Jena did a great job taking care of the ball achieving no turnover in the second quarter. Frankfurt stopped the Jena run with an Alleyne runner and trey from German big Jacob Knauf while Jena got 2 buckets from Bank, but Frankfurt led 37-34 at half-time. “Frankfurt´s offense got static and slower while Jena defended better in their run and got 8 offensive rebounds to get extra possessions”, stated Nick Boakye. The Skyliners shot 37% from the field and 18% from the three point line and had 23 rebounds and 4 turnovers while Science City Jena shot 32% from the field and 23% from the three point line and had 31 rebounds and 8 turnovers.

Till Pape with the lay in

The Skyliners did a good job keeping the lead in the third quarter as Science City Jena was unable to get over the hump trailing 59-54 after 30 minutes. Both teams traded 4-0 runs to start the second half as Frankfurt got baskets from Alleyne and Johnson while Jena got buckets from Washington and ex Phoenix Hagen center Alex Herrera as Frankfurt led 41-38. Frankfurt then got super production from role player Radii Casin who scored back to back baskets as Jena trailed 45-38. But Jena stayed tough and always had answer and were able to punch back against the less aggressive Frankfurt defense getting scores from Braxton and a 20 footer from Bank to trail 49-45. But Frankfurt´s offense was on as they continued to execute well going on a 6-2 run to lead 55-47. Frankfurt did a good job being able to get the bigs involved and in good position to get easy scores as Pape made a lay in and Knauf a lay in. Isaiah Swope continued to take many shots, but had misfortune with execution, but his time would come later. Jena got baskets from Bohahon and ex NBA player Joe Wieskamp to trail 59-54 after 3 quarters. “We knew we had to come out tough and not let them get comfortable. We did a good job getting easy baskets and finding Pape and Knauf for baskets”, added Nahiem Alleyne. “Our big Great Osobor is out and they took advantage of it. We have to do a better job of making something happen with the group that we have”, added Eric Washington.

Alex Herrea at the FT line

The fourth quarter was a real dog fight until the crunch-time performance of Isaiah Swope took over sending Science City Jena home with the loss. Ex NBA player Joe Wieskamp was massive in the first minutes making key baskets to keep Jena close to Frankfurt. He made 2 lay in´s and free throws as Jena trailed 64-62. Wieskamp remained aggressive and made another lay in with a pretty move inside to tie the game at 64-64. But that was the last punch of Jena as the Skyliners went on an explosive crunch-time 11-3 run as Isaiah Swope was pure Jordan Esc scoring 11 points in a row. He made 2 free throws, a trey and 3 fade away jumpers in best Michael Jordan manner to give his team the 77-67 lead to decide the game. “I didn´t have much luck in the first 3 quarters, but coach kept telling me to keep shooting. My teammates have a lot of confidence in my game and I do in my own game. I just try to focus on my game and stay consistent”, warned Isaiah Swope. “Isaiah is a workaholic. He is always in the gym. He found through adversary and made big shots. His 11 points in a row didn´t surprise me”, stated Nahiem Alleyne. Wieskamp then connected on a 3 point play with under a minute to play, but Will Chrismas ended the game with free throws. “We rebounded well and contained their guards well”, said Nahiem Alleyne. “We did a good job containing Swope for 3 quarters. He is a good player. Once he saw some go in, there was no stopping him”, said Eric Washington. The Skyliners were led by Isaiah Swope with 17 points while Nahiem Alleyne added 14 points and Till Pape had 13 points while Science City Jena was led by Joe Wieskampa nd Eric Washington with 18 points a piece. The Skyliners shot 42% from the field and 18% from outside and had 39 rebounds and 10 turnovers while Science City Jena shot 385 from the field and 23% from outside and had 49 rebounds and 20 turnovers.