The playoff hopes of the EPG Baskets Koblenz dwindled a little bit more with the bitter 95-93 loss against Paderborn last Monday. Now the team had 2 really tough match ups against top 5 teams BG Goettingen and the Eisbaeren Bremerhaven. Koblenz had lost 3 of the last 4 games and had lost the first meeting against Bremerhaven in a 100-91 shoot out. Bremerhaven had their 5 game winning streak recently snapped and arrived in Koblenz with a two games losing streak. Koblenz had to find a way to forget their bitter crunch-time loss to Paderborn and find a way to produce an upset that could still turn their season around in the stretch run for the playoffs. However Koblenz couldn´t compensate the loss of their MVP candidate Calvin Wishart who was thrown out of the game early in the third quarter after sustaining his second technical foul of the game as they lost 75-59 to Bremerhaven. The EPG Baskets Koblenz had a solid defensive effort, but just had a horrible shooting game where they only converted on one three the whole game. “We played good defense, but just couldn´t hit shots. When you only make 1 three, it becomes difficult to win. We had good looks through out the game, but I couldn´t buy a bucket today”, stressed EPG Baskets Koblenz guard Devonte McCall. The Eisbaeren Bremerhavedn didn´t have their best offensive day either shooting only 21% from the parking lot, but they gave a very good defensive effort which was enough to win. “Defense got us the win today. Our focus all week long was on defense. We made sure that our rotations were right and that we were standing in the right position. We got in passing lanes and got steals as well. Our communication was really good and on offense we kept the ball moving and speed helped us open it up for shots. We had a good will to win”, stressed Eisbaeren Bremerhaven American Carlos Carter (197-G/F-1999, college: Shippensburg)

Devonte McCall at the FT line

The EPG Baskets Koblenz were without American Tim Smith Jr and Mr 42 points scorer in Artland Aleksa Kovacevic and quickly fell into a deep hole as Bremerhaven led easily 7-0. The guests got easy lay in´s by Germans ex Skyliner Jordan Samare and ex RheinStars forward Jannis Von Seckendorf and Carlos Carter nailed a trey for good measure. Koblenz couldn´t even match the physicality early, because there was no body contact and were too lax in 1-1 deefnse. But Koblenz slowly found their rhythm better attacking more aggressively and got baskets from ex Hagen guard Devonte McCall and a lay in by ex easyCredit BBL player Alex Moeller who was in the starting lineup. Bremerhaven then got a clutch trey from ex Artland Dragon Adrian Breitlauch and free throws from ex Jena guard Raphael Falkenthal to lead 17-10. However Koblenz continued to chip away at the guests lead and got good energy from Minnesota native Calvin Wishart who came from the bench netting 4 points and the only trey of the game for them from little used David Gaspers as suddenly they were only down 19-18. Koblenz used the bench momentum from Wishart as German Jonas Niedermanner closed out the first quarter with 6 unanswered points as Koblenz led 23-21 after 10 minutes. The Koblenz bench had given a great effort with 14 points. “We couldn´t match their physicality, but we had good ball movement, just had a little problem at times with hitting shots”, said EPG Baskets Koblenz sports director Thomas Klein. The EPG Baskets Koblenz shot 67% from the 2 point area and 20% from outside and had 10 rebounds and 2 turnovers while the Eisbaeren Bremerhaven shot 75% from the 2 point area and had 6 rebounds and 3 turnovers.

Elijah Miller jumper

The second quarter had 2 runs, but at the break the Eisbaeren Bremerhaven had the advantage leading 39-32. Both teams had difficulty in the first 2 minutes finding a rhythm as both teams produced 3 stops. Canadian Elijah Miller then got Bremerhaven it´s first score with a lay in, but Koblenz then punched back with a 5-0 run attacking the rim and getting easy lay in´s by 2018 NBBL champion Badu Buck and Texas native Julian Larry to lead 28-23. Bremerhaven had lost a little concentration and head coach Steven Esterkamp then took a time out. That seemed to work as they found their offensive rhythm again going on a lethal 10-0 run to lead 33-28 sharing the ball with love again. In the run it was the import trio of Miller, Carter and Jake Biss who supplied all the points. Carter and Miller dropped three´s while ex Paderborn guard Jake Biss drove twice to the rim with success. Koblenz once again had a weak phase on the defensive end with lax 1-1 deefnse and not defending the three point line diligently enough. Koblenz stuck with Bremerhaven and got some baskets from ex G-League player DJ Jeffries who hit an off balance shot while ex Oldenburg center Marco Bacak made a pretty old school hook shot to trail 35-32. Bremerhaven closed out the first half strong as Carter and Samare made lay in´s. Koblenz continued to have problems slowing down the guests drive. “We had up and down phases on defense. We weren´t concentrated during their 10-0 run. We had many good looks simply, because their on ball defense wasn´t that aggressive. Our key players simply didn´t hit shots”, stated Thomas Klein. The Eisbaeren Bremerhaven shot 55% from the field and 27% from the three point line and had 22 rebounds and 5 turnovers while the EPG Baskets Koblenz shot 55% from the field and 9% from the three point line and had 18 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

Alex Moeller lay in

The turning point of the game came in the third quarter as the EPG Baskets Koblenz were only 3 points behind the Eisbaeren Bremerhaven, but their star player Calvin Wishart was disqualified from the game for his second technical foul which then led to the guests taking control and never looking back. The EPG Baskets Koblenz began the second half finding their rhythm right away playing their game getting 2 transition baskets from Buck and Bacak off a steal and turnover and only trailed 39-36. Koblenz had some momentum, but then came the unexpected as Calvin Wishart was handed his second technical of the game and was bounced from the game. Koblenz has had a history this season of having serious mental lapses when real adversary strikes the team. It wasn´t any different this time as Bremerhaven cruised out on an annoying 11-4 to get the comfortable 50-40 advantage. In the run the Koblenz physicality suddenly was gone as Bremerhaven got easy lay up´s from Miller and Brenneke and Von Seckendorf made a thunderous dunk. The intensity that Koblenz once had was below standard and on offense the three point shooting plague continued. Badu Buck did a good job keeping his team somewhat in the game, but Koblenz couldn´t string along a number of stops. Bremerhaven attempted less three´s as their shot wasn´t falling, but penetrated and got buckets from Miller and Carter to extend their lead to 56-44. Koblenz got a lay in from ex Trier forward Jannis Sonnefeld and free throws from McCall, but they couldn´t get closer. Jake Biss closed out the third quarter with the only three pointer made the whole 10 minutes to lead 58-48. “Wishart is a good player and we had a game plan for him which was being physical on him. It obviously became easier when he was ejected. They had weaker ball handlers and they didn´t close out as strong”, stressed Carlos Carter “Losing Wishart really hurt us. We had less experience having to put in a 17 year old and we had foul trouble. We weren´t good on close outs, communication or help”, stressed Devonte McCall. The Eisbaeren Bremerhaven shot 59% from the 2 point area and 25% from the parking lot and had 32 rebounds and 6 turnovers while the EPG Baskets Koblenz shot 58% from the 2 point area and 6% from the parking lot and had 26 rebounds and 6 turnovers.

Carlos Carter at the FT line

The EPG Baskets Koblenz really had their backs to the wall in the fourth quarter and not scoring any points in the first 5 minutes didn´t help their come back attempt either. Both teams could muster no real offense. Bremerhaven only scored 6 points in that span getting a 20 footer from Carlos Carter, a reverse lay up from Adrian Breitlauch and lay in from Lorenz Brenneke where there was very little resistance from the lax Koblenz defense in the paint. Bremerhaven led 66-48 with 5 minutes to go with the EPG Basekts Koblenz lacking confidence and the game was over. Both teams did muster 20 points in the last 5 minutes, but it was mainly stat filling sequences. Jefferies got 2 scores while Bacak also scored with his left hand while Bremerhaven got to the free throw line getting 3 points from Von Seckendorff while young German Lukas Stelmokas got his first Pro A points in his young career. “Koblenz didn´t seem to be in the game as much mentally. It was hard to get a feel in the game with the refs calls. We played together to close out the game well. I played with the flow of the game. I played with confidence. Coach Esterkamp was hard on me during the week of practice. He expects a lot of me. I appreciate a coach like that who pushes me. I always play as if I have to prove something”, warned Carlos Carter “We had no real point guard. We played good defense, but just couldn´t execute on offense”, added Devonte McCall. The Eisbaeren Bremerhaven were led by Carlos Clark with 15 points while Elijah Miller added 13 points while the EPG Baskets Koblenz were led by Badu Buck with 15 points while DJ Jeffries added 10 points. The Eisbaeren Bremerhaven shot 45% from the field and 21% from outside and had 41 rebounds and 7 turnovers while the EPG Baskets Koblenz shot 39% from the field and 6% from outside and had 33 rebounds and 8 turnovers.