The up and down season of the Dragons Rhondorf continued in Dresden last weekend. After a bitter loss in Frankfurt some weeks ago, they returned refocused into their own living room to beat top team Fellbach Flashers. However a week later, they went too Dresden and gave a disappointing performance mustering only 59 points. Their 17% three point shooting and 18 turnovers were major reasons for the loss. Now they once again had to return home and give a positive answer, but that wasn´t easy against top team Bayer Giants Leverkusen who had racked up an incredible 25 national BBL titles in their stellar history. They came to the Dragons dome with a 5-1 record and 5 game winning streak and wanted to keep that winning streak going. On a cool autumn Halloween evening, the Dragons Rhondorf played a strong first half, but lost track in the third quarter as the Bayer Giants Leverkusen took total control of the game and won 93-78. “It was an up and down game for us. We had some good phases, but also phases where we took really bad shots. For example taking to quick shots out of the pick and roll instead of making the extra pass. We didn´t play stable enough defense for 40 minutes tonight to win”, stressed Dragons Rhondorf guard Kenan Reinhart. The Bayer Giants Leverkusen had a big advantage over the Dragons Rhondorf and that was the overwhelming experience that they had and it really showed. “We had a good start, but when we had good leads, they were able to come back. They did that in the first half. However after making that big run in the third quarter, we held it. We hit big shots when we needed them. It wasn´t perfect, but it was a good win”, stressed Bayer Giants Leverkusen guard Branden Maughmer (191-G-1999, college: Morehead St.).

Kenan Reinhart at the FT line

The first quarter was a tale of two stories as the Bayer Giants Leverkusen had a good start, but the Dragons Rhondorf were able to fight back and trail only 24-21 after 10 minutes. The Bayer Giants Leverkusen found a good flow first as they mixed up their offense with pretty inside out basketball to get the rapid 14-6 lead. Big man German Dennis Heinzmann who led the pro A in blocks in 3 seasons made a lay while Ohio native Maughmer a 20 footer and ex Wurzburg guard David Gerhardt and Icelandic guard Agust Kjartansson made three´s for the early lead. German Luca Kahl-Hansen did a super job with the playmaking while defensively Leverkusen was aggressive and forced some early turnovers. However the Dragons came back with fight and better execution. Ex Rheinstar guard Kenan Reinhart scored 7 points in a row including a trey which got his confidence going early, a tip in and 20 footer as the Dragons trailed 20-14. The German had another good game with a stat line of 18/6/4 and shot 64% form the field and 60% from outside. “I hit three´s again which made me happy that I could help the team. But without a win, my game was irrelevant”, stated Kenan Reinhart. Leverkusen kept the lead by mixing it up with aggressiveness and getting to the free throw line and getting a basket on transition to lead 24-16.. However young German forward Carlo Schmid gave supreme energy at the end with 5 points with an offensive rebound and put back plus free throw and a lay in to trail only by 3 points. “We let them come back in the last minutes. We gave up some offensive rebounds and played too fast instead of slowing down the game”, stressed Branden Maughmer. The Bayer Giants Leverkusen shot 64% from the field and 57% from outside and had 6 rebounds and 5 turnovers while the Bayer Giants Leverkusen shot 50% from the field and 20% from outside and had 6 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

Branden Maughmer from outside

In the second quarter the Bayer Giants Leverkusen led by as much as 10 points, but the Dragons Rhondorf never panicked, but did a good job finding solutions and executing to stay close with them and trail 45-41 at the break. However the Bayer Giants Leverkusen did have a better start to the second quarter going on a 11-4 run to lead 35-25. The guests continued to present super ball movement and let it ran three´s as ex EN Baskets Schwelm forward Fin Fleute, Maughmer and Gerhardt all scored from down town while Fabian Reichstadt who played with Itzehoe last season made an offensive rebound and put back. The Dragons Rhondorf offense was eratic as healthy shot selection was lacking as American Sahmi Willoughby and 2026 AST winner Dusan Ilic presented airballs. However the Dragons Rhondorf continued to fight and finally had some success with their three pointer as ex Essen guard Mychael Paulo nailed 2 in a row and suddenly Rhondorf trailed only 37-31. Rhondorf now began to defend better and forced some turnovers which led to a Reinhart 15 footer and Willoughby lay in as Leverkusen led only 40-37. It was an exciting and pretty even game where the only difference were the more turnovers that Leverkusen had despite their high shooting percentages. However the Bayer Giants Leverkusen kept the slim lead getting a big dunk from Kahl-Hansen on transition and a clutch trey from German Luca Michels who once exploded for 40 points in a Pro B game against Itzehoe to lead 45-39. Mychael Paulo ended the first half with a big offensive rebound and put back to trail by 4 points at half-time. “We had a good lead, but gave it up again, because of turnovers. They did a good job hitting shots”, added Branden Maughmer. The Bayer Giants Leverkusen shot 56% from the field and 53% from the three point line and had 19 rebounds and 11 turnovers while the Dragons Rhondorf shot 46% from the field and 20% from the three point line and had 12 rebounds and 6 turnovers.

Luca Kahl-Hansen at the FT line

The turning point of the game came in the third quarter where an early run by the Bayer Giants Leverkusen shocked the Dragons Rhondorf something they couldn´t rebound from as the guests would never look back again outscoring Rhondorf 26-13. Kenan Reinhart got the Dragons on the score board first in the second half with a trey, but then came the 20-3 run explosion by the Bayer Giants Leverkusen which decided the game early as the Dragons Rhondorf trailed 64-47. In the run, the Bayer Giants Leverkusen let it rain three´s as David Gerhard and Agust Kjartansson scored and Luca Kahl added 8 points and two three´s. On the first three pointer, the Bayer Giants Leverkusen performed their prettiest ball movement which had 2 incredible do it like Milos Teodosic passes from Kjartansson who delivered a shovel pass and behind the back pass. “He reminds me of Spanish point guards. He always plays at his pace and sees the floor so well. He passed it like Milos Teoosic”, smiled Branden Maughmer. The Dragons finally stopped the Bayer Giants Leverkusen run launching their own 7-2 run to trail 66-54 and see a little daylight in their comeback attempt. In the run, the Dragons got an offensive rebound and putback from ex Fellbach center Daniel Mayr, and offensive rebound and putback by Paulo and a clutch three pointer from Italian 3 and D play Josh Petteno. But the Bayer Giants Leverkusen always had an answer getting a trey from Michels and Fleute lay in at the buzzer to lead 71-54: “We did a good job hitting a lot of three´s and slowed down the game which benefited us more than them”, answered Branden Maughmer. “We didn´t help well on the pick and roll and took bad shots”, said Kenan Reinhart. The Bayer Giants Leverkusen shot 56% from the field and 52% from the parking lot and had 26 rebounds and 13 turnovers while the Dragons Rhondorf shot 46% from the field and 29% from the parking lot and had 20 rebounds and 14 turnovers.

Josh Petteno from downtown

The Dragons Rhondorf won the fourth quarter 24-22, but it wasn´t enough as the Bayer Giants Leverkusen continued to execute well and didn´t allow the home team get over the hump. The Dragons Rhondorf had a super first few minutes going on a 10-2 run to trail only 73-64 as once again the Dragons saw some daylight in their come back. In the run, some timely three´s were scored by Reinhart and Ilic while Daniel Mayr also made a lay in. However the Bayer Giants Leverkusen weren´t rattled, but remained poised and used their vast experience to keep executing and punching back even when the Dragons scored. Mayr and Ilic gave the Dragons vital three´s while ex Obercahing center Benjamin Sadikovic and Schmid made lay in´s but still trailed 85-74, but that was because the Bayer Giants Leverkusen punched back. The man in charge was American Branden Maughmer who had some vengeance after coughing up 5 turnovers in the first half. In this phase he added 10 points as he showed the total package of his 3 level scoring with 2 three´s a 20 footer and lay in. “I was pissed at the break in the locker room. I came out refocused and hit big shots and showed maturity and poise to lead my team to the win”, warned Branden Maughmer. There were no let downs in the last minutes as the Bayer Giants Leverkusen closed out the game in style with a 8-4 run. Kahl-Hansen and Reichstadt made lay in´s and Gerhardt hit another trey. “We slowed down the game took care of the ball and made big shots”, stated Branden Maughmer. “Whenever we had a run, they showed their experience and stopped it”, added Kenan Reinhart. The Bayer Giants Leverkusen were led by Branden Maughmer with 27 points while David Gerhardt had 16 points and Luca Kahl-Hansen had 15 points while the Dragons Rhondorf were led by Kenan Reinhart with 18 points while Mychael Paulo added 15 points. The The Bayer Giants Leverkusen shot 53% from the field and 44% from outside and had 34 rebounds and 15 turnovers while the Dragons Rhondorf shot 48% from the field and 36% from outside and had 27 rebounds 19 turnovers.