After a slow 0-2 start into the Pro B season, the Skyliners Juniors have finally found their groove winning their last 2 games. They made an incredible fourth quarter comeback against the Dragons Rhondorf to win their first home game and then returned 72 hours later easily disposing of Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg. However Frankfurt didn´t have an easy next opponent with the TSV Oberaching Tropics who had witnessed one of their best starts in a while having a 4-1 record. The club led by experienced head coach Mario Matic could have been 5-0 had they not lost a close nail bitter to Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg. Both teams had current winning streaks and wanted to maintain their momentum in this game. On a cool early autumn afternoon the TSV Oberaching Tropics entered the game as the favorite on paper, but after 40 minutes had experienced a shocking 102-72 loss. The Skyliners Juniors sped slowly away from their opponent in the second quarter, but totally decided the game in the third quarter with a lethal 34-12 quarter keeping their winning streak alive at three games. “I think that we did a good job staying pretty much steady for 40 minutes. We were never too high or too low. It wasn´t a great ending letting them have a big run in the fourth quarter, but we could afford it with such a big lead. However we should focus on not letting that happen again. We were consistent today and hit our shots really well in the second half. We did a good job figuring out who their 3-4 main scorers were and slowed them down”, stressed Skyliners Junior Jamie Edoka (194-G-2008). The TSV Oberaching Tropics had a solid first quarter, but later had problems slowing down the lethal Frankfurt offense and couldn´t erase mistakes on the offensive glass. “We played a good first half, but our defense wasn´t aggressive enough. We didn´t have a good start to the second half and our shots didn´t fall. Our zone also didn´t work, but we never gave up”, stressed TSV Oberaching Tropics guard Dzenis Hodovic.

Dzenis Hodzic with the lay in

The first quarter saw a few little runs from both teams as no team was able to get away for a good lead. TSV Oberaching Tropics had the 6-4 lead early on getting a big dunk from Frankfurt native Max May and ex Bonn/Rhondorf (NBBL) guard Frederick Mueller also scored in the paint. The Skyliners Juniors were still figuring out to find a groove and did with 2026 AST winner Jamie Edoka who added 5 rapid points with back to back buckets and the 9-6 advantage. The game was a high tempo and the TSV Oberaching Tropics did a good job using their bench and the role players stepped up. Ex IBAM forward Daniel Riedrich hit a trey and ex Limburg center Aike Bensmann made a lay in and Nedzad Muratovic made a beautiful old school running hook shot ala Toni KuKoc for the 17-12 lead. However the Skyliners Juniors were able to punch back and serve good execution as the universal genius Ivan Crnjac nailed a trey, Maxi Peters snuck inside for a lay in and Moses Poelking used his swiftness to make a pretty left handed hook shot, but Frankfurt trailed 17-16 after 10 minutes. Both teams had miserable 3 point shooting percentages with Frankfurt at 22% and Oberaching at 14% while the field goal percentages were at 35% for Frankfurt and 47% for TSV Oberaching Tropics. Frankfurt had the slim 10-8 rebound edge, but had the 4-1 offensive rebound lead. The high tempo and aggressive defense led to 6 Frankfurt turnovers and 5 for the guests. “We had to get used to the style. They were pretty physical, but nothing that concerned us”, stressed Jamie Edoka

Moses Poelking at the FT line

In the second quarter the Skyliners Juniors stepped on the gas pedal and began hot going on a 10-3 run to get the 26-20 lead. One part of the TSV Oberaching Tropics game plan was to try to subdue the talented trio of Edoka, Crnac and Smazak, but in this run, Smazak added 6 points and Crnjac a lay in. Energizer Dusan Nikolic added a lay in. The TSV Oberaching Tropics began sluggish and couldn´t match Frankfurt´s intensity. Frankfurt´s aggressive defense didn´t allow the guests any good ball movement and their hustle on the boards rewarded them with extra possessions and easy baskets. Mueller stopped the run with a lay in, but Frankfurt didn´t hesitate to punch back right away as they went on a 9-3 run to lead 35-25. The Frankfurt offense was smooth and in a groove where good team basketball created good opportunites with a 15 footer form Edoka and a lay in on transition by Crnjac. The Skyliners Juniors also remained aggressive at the same time attacking the rim resulting with free throws from Nikolic and Peters. The TSV Oberaching Tropics couldn´t muster much offense except for Hodovic who nailed a trey. The 18 year guard from Bosnia that played 2 years in the FC Bayern Munich youth program had such a refreshing game as his inside out game and three level scoring sparkled. His intense incredible ball handling presented problems for Frankfurt´s on ball defense all day long. Frankfurt held the momentum in the waning minutes getting a lay in from Peters and Crnjac to lead 41-29 at the break. Team captain Alvin Oniya was instrumental in this quarter with his excellent floor general qualities and pretty dimes. “Alvin is a beast. He has a great motor. At both ends. He makes great passes, puts the tempo high an djust has so much energy”, stated Jamie Edoka. Philipp “White Chocolate” Bode made a long shot behind center court, but it didn´t count because time had elapsed. The Skyliners Juniors shot 41% from the field and 17% from the three point line and had 24 rebounds and 10 turnovers while the TSV Oberaching Tropics shot 40% from the field and 31% from the three point line and had 15 rebounds and 12 turnovers. “We stuck to the game plan and defended really well as a team”, said Jamie Edoka.

Philipp Bode from outside

The big turning point came in the third quarter where the Skyliners Juniors ran away with the game and led by as much as 34 points and at the end of 30 minutes led 77-44. The Skyliners Juniors came into the second half focused and reeled off a lethal 22-6 run to extend their lead to 65-38. Edoka began with free throws which was followed by 4 points from Smazak with a lay in and pretty floater. May who had a large cheering gallery in the stands did all he could getting inside and using his physicality for 2 big buckets. However Frankfurt then finally found their outside shot and let it rain three´s as Edoka and Peters let it fly which resulted in 2 three pointers a piece. One has really noticed in the early part of the season that Edoka´s three pointer has really improved. He went 5/9 increasing his confidence. “I have worked so much on my shot. My confidence is very high. I´m fortunate that being able to play at the Pro B level is a good chance for me to take and improve it”, comemnetd Jamie Edoka. The TSV Oberaching Tropics mostly used the defensive zone, but they couldn´t get any stops. Hodovic continued to play his game and scored on the drive again as Oberaching trailed 65-40. However Frankfurt´s offense was simply to well oiled on this night as their confidence kept growing which led to added positive execution. Smazak continued to remain hot as he dropped 5 more points for the 70-40 advantage. The defensive intensity just wasn´t enough to string along some extra stops for some added confidence. It also didn´t help the guests that they couldn´t hit free throws consistently. The team missed 11 on the night and May was extremely unlucky at 2/8. Nikolic added a lay in as well as little used Dutch forward Chris Widmer to end the third quarter. “They tried to give us different looks with their defense. Their zone didn´t work and we found quick shots”, explained Jamie Edoka. “We didn´t defend aggressively enough and had problems controlling the defensive rebound”, commented Dzenis Hodzioc. The Skyliners Juniors shot 47% from the field and 29% from the parking lot and had 35 rebounds and 10 turnovers while the TSV Oberaching Tropics shot 34% from the field and 22% from the parking lot and had 25 rebounds and 17 turnovers.

Maxi Peters from outside

The TSV Oberaching Tropics had their strongest quarter in the fourth scoring 28 points, but couldn´t make any real ground to get over the hump allowing 25 points. The fans definitely had no complaints as there were 53 points worth of offense delivered in the last 10 minutes. Frankfurt decreased their defensive intensity a bit in the last frame which led to a Muratovic offensive rebound and put back and Niklas Schuler trey as all of a sudden he was left all alone on the three point line for the trey, but Frankfurt still had the overwhelming 80-50 lead. After a Muratovic trey, it was Frankfurt that released another severe blow with an overwhelming 15-2 run for the 99-56 advantage. In the run, it was Jamie Edoka who responded again finding his range from outside with back to back three´s and two free throws for his own 7-0 run while Smazak continued to produce adding 5 points while Oniya also got into the scoring spree with a lay in as Frankfurt led 99-56. It then took Frankfurt a little time to reach the 100 points as the TSV Oberaching Tropics then made the last punch of the game going on a strong game ending 16-3 run to at least finish the game with some sort of positive feeling. Oberaching added 7 points in a row with a May dunk and 5 points from Hodzic including a trey as Frankfurt led 99-63. Joscha Zentgraf then missed 4 free throws in a row, but got an extra fifth as a opponent ran to early after the free throw. The German finally hit the fifth free throw as Frankfurt had finally reached 100 points. Oberaching finished the game strong then with two more three´s from Hodovic and Muratovic. “We can´t allow fourth quarters like that where we have such a big lead. We have to learn from this and treat the next games fourth quarters with more discipline and treat it like it was 0-0”, warned Jamie Edoka. “We wanted to play our game and did. We stayed together as a team and finished strong”, warned Dzenis Hodzic. The Skyliners Juniors had 5 guys score in double figures led by Jamie Edoka with 25 points while Lukas Smazak had 20 points while the TSV Oberaching Tropics were led by Dzenis Hodzic with 24 points while Max May had 14 points and 10 boards. The Skyliners Juniros shot 48% from the field and 31% from outside and had 52 rebounds and 19 turnovers while the TSV Oberaching Tropics shot 37% from the field and 29% from outside and had 32 rebounds and 21 turnovers.