BBC wins at home against Frankfurt

BBC Coburg has got off to a successful start to the second half of the season in the BARMER ProB South 2nd German Basketball League with an 86:68 (42:37) win in the HUK-COBURG arena on Sunday afternoon – its second victory over FRAPORT SKYLINERS Juniors in the space of a week and its seventh out of the last eight games.

The home side dictated the run of play from the tip-off and Constantin Ebert led the way to begin with. The point guard had notched up nine points after just five minutes, helping his side move 11:6 in front. The club from Hesse, who also lined up with first-division professional Richard Freudenberg, put up stiff resistance, but the BBC played commandingly and clinically. Youngster Nico Wenzl found Ebert with a pass with 30 seconds to go in the period and the guard coolly drained his shot from downtown to make it 20:14 in the 10th minute.

New signing Noah Kamdem, who hails from Nuremberg, started the second period with a spectacular slam-dunk: Ebert set him up with a no-look pass and the powerhouse smashed the ball through the hoop imperiously. However, that was followed by Coburg’s weakest spell. The encounter became a pretty placid affair and even though the BBC was able to open up a slight gap at one stage, Frankfurt was able to reduce it by the end of the quarter. Coburg went in at half-time with a 42:37 advantage. “Unfortunately, we lost the thread a little,” said an annoyed BBC Head Coach Ulf Schabacker about the final spell before the break. “But we discussed that in calm in the dressing room.”

The talk paid off, as his players came back out with a lot of power: Princeton Onwas first made a slam-dunk and Kamdem followed that up with another thunderous one. Sven Lorber then stole possession and found Wenzl, who set Onwas up for the next slam-dunk. The American then spectacularly blocked top talent Len Schoormann in defense. Coburg now had the game completely under control and Wenzl drained a three from eight-and-a-half meters out to make it 55:40 in the 24th minute. The 530 spectators were now in ecstasy. Or, to be exact, 534 – the BBC had four players who could only watch on from the bench: Johannes Krug (torn cruciate ligament ) and Shore Adenekan (torn Achilles tendon), who will both be out for a long time, were joined by Jevon Perschnick and new signing Tidjan Keita, who were rested at the advice of the doctors. When the outstanding Onwas then added a slam-dunk after a fast break to make it 66:45, the atmosphere finally reached boiling point. “He’s playing incredibly at the moment. He’s top-class and an excellent player for the ProB division,” was how Schabacker praised his import from the U.S.

Kamdem drained a bucket from outside to make it 69:45 shortly after the start of the final period and so as good as sealed victory. The encounter now flagged a little in offense and did not pick up pace again until the last five minutes. Kamdem added another slam-dunk and, when the fans had already leaped out of their seat to celebrate their team, there was one final highlight. Toni Baric stole possession shortly before the end and then scored his first points in the ProB with a jump shot and 17 seconds left on the clock. “Toni really deserved those points. He’s there at every training session and always has a tough time when he sits out a game on the bench. But he accepts that in great style and I’m delighted he drained the thing,” said a happy Schabacker about the Croatian player’s taste of success.

Noah Kamdem also completed his first home game with a sense of achievement: “I’ve slipped into my role well and blend brilliantly with the team. I enjoyed it immensely. I’ve seen a lot of clubs, but I feel really at home here.” The BBC now welcomes Morgenstern Baskets Speyer to the Lauterer Höhe this Saturday.