The 2026 pre season of German Pro A team EPG Baskets Koblenz is slowly winding down as the troops of head coach Stephan Dohrn continue to prepare for the opening tip off at home against Medi Bayreuth on September 27th. The club has preformed well in the pre season beating 3 of 4 Pro A teams with Giessen, Bochum and the Artland Dragons. The only team they lost to was newcomer ETB Miners Essen who had won the 2026 Pro B title. With exactly 8 days to go until the start of the Pro A season, Koblenz had one last test game against Pro A team PS Karlsruhe. They would play this game at the Karthause in Koblenz where they had met them exactly one year and 6 days ago where PS Karlsruhe had won 79-72. This was the last tune up for the EPG Baskets Koblenz and they wanted to go into the season with some self-confidence and did destroying PS Karlsruhe 104-74 as 2005 Euro winner and current PS Karlsruhe head coach Demond Greene sat dejected in the locker room in the fourth quarter after being ejected. The EPG Baskets Koblenz played excellent for three quarters offensively, but defensively were excellent for four quarters as they were ready for the 2026-2027 regular season. “We played a very strong first quarter showing just how unselfish we can be. We got away from that in the second quarter, but still led at the break. We came out refocused and dominated in the second half. Our biggest strength on defense was our help side and scrambling from the back side”, stressed EPG Baskets Koblenz guard Jayden Williams (198-F-2003, college: Dartmouth). PS Karlsruhe were missing big man Maurice Pluskota, but overall were always a step behind their opponent and were overwhelmed by the aggressive and physical defense of Koblenz. “We can´t use the absence of Pluskota as an excuse why we lost. Our energy wasn´t good and Koblenz´s energy was great. Koblenz played very tough and we didn´t respond. And that is the result on the scoreboard”, said PS Karlsruhe assistant coach Aleksander Nadfeji. “This was a great performance by the EPG Baskets. Karlsruhe showed real resilience in the third quarter, but we were so tough. We are ready for the regular season”, warned EPG Baskets Koblenz sport director Thomas Klein.

Jannis Sonnefeld at the FT line

PS Karlsruhe actually got on the scoreboard first with a lay in by ex Iowa State (NCAA) forward Robert Jones, but before anyone could really digest the first bucket, Koblenz led 9-4. Chase “the machine” Johnson from Boston College (NCAA) set the tone early on defense with his aggressive and physical 1-1 defense which led to 2 three´s by him including one on Transition while ex Bonn center Alex Moeller made a lay in. The 1-2 guard duo of Chase Johnson and ex Georgia Southern (NCAA) guard Tyren Moore both brought up the ball and gave their teammates good looks as they banged the ball inside getting lay in´s from Romanian national player Dragos Diculescu and ex Kirchheim big man Jonas Niedermanner for the 15-6 Koblenz advantage. The Koblenz offense was cooking getting all involved and they proved how lethal the offense could be without just heaving up three´s. Defensively the EPG Baskets were aggressive and physical and didn´t allow the guests into their sets and forced them to tough shots. The EPG Baskets Koblenz didn´t have any let ups on the defensive end as a Mason Kraus steal led to a Jayden Williams trey on transition. Williams then made a lay in and PS Karlsruhe trailed 23-11. Robert Jones was a menace inside and always found good position and made a lay in to trail 23-13. But Koblenz stayed strong and tough closing out the first quarter with a potent 6-0 run to lead 29-13 after 10 minutes. They continued to score in the paint as ex Manitoba (U-sports) guard Mason Kraus scored as did Moeller and ex Nurnberg center Ferenc Gille. “That was an outstanding quarter for us. Everyone played together. We were extra mobile and agile. We were ready at both ends. This was very imposing. It was fun to watch how well we played against a strong team”, stressed Thomas Klein.

Martel Williams to the hole

PS Karlsruhe had their strong phase in the second quarter outscoring the EPG Baskets 23-15, but still trailed 44-39 at half-time. The EPG Baskets Koblenz played Ok in the first two minutes continuing to execute getting an off balance shot by Chase Johnson, lay in by Moore and a massive dunk by Gille to lead 36-17. However the offense wasn´t as smooth as the first quarter as Koblenz was trying to be a bit more spectacular and had a few turnovers and weren´t sharing the ball as well anymore. Then came a rip in their game as PS Karlsruhe came back closing out the second quarter with a potent 22-8 run to trail only by 4 points at the break. The recipe for success from the guests was being more aggressive at both ends. On the offensive end, they got more to the free throw line while on the defensive end threw up sporadic presses that surprised Koblenz and tended to be very challenging that led to turnovers. PS Karlsruhe also started to hit more shots including a few three´s as ex Troy (NCAA) forward Theo Seng connected from down town as did ex Cal Baptist university guard Martel Williams while ex Euroleague guard Jason George also scored on the drive as suddenly the guests trailed 38-33. Koblenz got a big trey from center Alex Moeller for the 41-33 lead. But that didn´t stop the guests from finishing the first half strong getting free throws from Martel Williams and a trey at the buzzer from ex Rhondorf guard Killian Binafpl. “We defended well, but our offense wasn´t what we had showed in the first quarter. If we had defended bad, then they would have had the lead. We lost our rhythm with their press. We didn´t play together on offense”, stated Thomas Klein.

Chase Johnson to the rim

In the third quarter the EPG Baskets Koblenz found back to their offense out scoring PS Karlsruhe 27-17 and grabbed the big lead back at 71-53. The EPG Baskets Koblenz came out with the right focus and body language trampling all over the guests stamping a cruel 12-2 run in their faces to extend their lead to 61-43. In the run, they found the three ball again getting execution from Kraus, ex Santa Clara (NCAA) center Camaron Tongue and from Moore. Diculescu also added a big dunk while ex Trier forward Jannis Sonnefeld added 3 points. PS Karlsruhe really couldn´t muster much offense except for Martel Williams who scored 9 of his teams last 10 points of the quarter. “PS Karlsruhe would have been totally lost without Martel Williams tonight”, stressed Thomas Klein. He demonstrated his three level scoring making a trey, runner and lay in. Koblenz continued to get superb production from their American rookie trio of Jayden Williams who added a trey, Tyren Moore added 5 points and Chase Johnson a lay in. Both teams were punching back and forth in the last minutes, but the guests could make no ground as they trailed by 18 points after 30 minutes. “We knew that they would try to come back. We became more aggressive going down hill and our spacing was very good”, added Jayden Williams. “The third quarter was like the first quarter. We were too soft. Koblenz didn´t let us get into our sets, Their physicality was too much for us”, commented Aleksandar Nadfeji. “Karlsruhe was stronger in the third quarter than in the first quarter. They showed real resilience. We didn´t play so well for a few minutes. But all in all it was a good quarter for us”, added Thomas Klein

Martel Williams at the FT line

How often did fans witness big leads from the EPG Baskets Koblenz starting in the fourth quarter in the last years and then see them lose the game. This pre season the EPG Baskets Koblenz have shown a different class in that they are able to close out games now and not lose their nerves like in the past. They exploded for 33 points and only allowed 21 points closing out the win strong. Ps Karlsruhe began the fourth quarter with a mini 4-2 run as diminutive guard Zac Owens who played at Emporia State made a lay in while Jones made a dunk to trail 74-57. Once again Koblenz defended aggressive and with passion and were beat by great individual plays which happen. That run didn´t faze the EPG Baskets Koblenz as they punched back with a lethal 10-2 run to lead 84-59 as the game now was more than decided. In the run was also where PS Karlsruhe head coach Demond Greene was ejected from the game. In the run, Koblenz sparkled with three from Kraus and Tongue while game top scorer Jayden Williams added free throws. Martel Williams then added back to back buckets with a nifty hook shot and a floater to trail 84-63 as his individual class was hard to stop on this night. Koblenz just kept executing with ease as Alex Moeller stepped outside again connecting on his second trey of the game while also adding a lay in while Jayden Williams continued to be super efficient making a tap in and trey for the 94-67 lead. After young German David Scheu added a lay in, the EPG Baskets Koblenz then put an exclamation mark on the win with a lethal 10-2 run to seal the victory. In the run, Tyren Moore added 7 points while Mason Kraus who had found his range on this night hit a trey. “They were checked out in the fourth quarter. They were joking saying see you in the regular season. We held our own”, stressed Jayden Williams. “We weren´t there mentally at the end. We need to learn form this game. We had some good moments though showing character and toughness, but only 20% in the game”, stated Aleksandar Nadfeji. The EPG Baskets were led by Jayden Williams with 22 points while Tyren Moore added 18 points while PS Karlsruhe was led by Martel Williams with 25 points.