Bonn finds no answer to Fischer and Wells

s.Oliver Würzburg has returned to winning ways after its three recent defeats: In its first game after the break for the cup and internationals, the club from Lower Franconia produced a strong display for 30 minutes on the road at Telekom Baskets Bonn to win by 95:86 (45:43) in the Telekom Dome on the 21st game day of the easyCredit German Basketball League.

Despite an outbreak of flu among the team, Richter was the only player Head Coach Denis Wucherer had to do without on Sunday afternoon. However, he was able to welcome back Brekkott Chapman, who had been out through injury for five months, and put him in his starting five without further ado. They got cracking right away as if there had never been an almost three-week break: Whereas Bonn stuttered badly in offense in the opening minutes and hardly any of its shots wanted to drop, s.Oliver Würzburg moved the ball well and capitalized uncompromisingly on its chances.

When Bonn’s new Head Coach Will Voigt called his first timeout in the 3rd minute, the visitors were already 2:9 ahead. However, Telekom Baskets were not able to add anything more than a three by Alec Brown in the next four minutes either, with the result that Voigt had to gather his players around him for another talk with the scores standing at 5:22 at the start of the 8th minute. Luke Fischer and captain Cameron Wells had each notched up seven points by that stage. After Bonn’s second timeout, the home side stepped up its intensity and turned the game on its head for the time being, as a 17:4 run straddling the periods put it back within striking distance (22:26 in the 12th minute).

In the 16th minute, Benjamin Lischka added an and one and then two free throws on the next attack to make it 34:33 and give Bonn its first (and only) lead of the encounter. Luke Fischer and Cameron Wells then stepped up to the plate again: They recaptured the lead for Würzburg right away, enabling the visitors to take a narrow 43:45 advantage in with them at the break. The second half began with the next successful lay-up from Luke Fischer, after which Brekkott Chapman had his best scene of the game: The rookie blocked an attempted three by Ben Simons at the back and then added a lay-up at the other end to make it 43:49 after a baseball pass from Fischer.

Bonn continued to resist and remained in striking distance until the 25th minute (52:55), but then the visitors produced a run of nine points without reply to take a double-digit lead again (52:64 in the 28th minute) and force Will Voigt to call his next timeout. Things turned critical again for s.Oliver Würzburg just once after that, when Alec Brown drained two quick buckets from downtown and so reduced the deficit to 77:84 with four minutes remaining. After Denis Wucherer’s timeout, Würzburg struck back with a slam-dunk by Luke Fischer, a three from Florian Koch and a lay-up by Jordan Hulls – a 7:0 run that made it 77:91 in the 38th minute and sealed victory.

“That was a very strong and mature performance in the second half. We moved the ball well and put up stiffer resistance at the boards,” said Wucherer afterwards. “We’re pleased to return after the break with a win. That should give us the boost we need for the tough challenges ahead of us in the coming weeks.”

s.Oliver Würzburg now faces the final Franconian derby of the season on Friday evening (tip-off: 8:30 p.m.) in front of what will probably be another sell-out crowd in the s.Oliver Arena cauldron and will aim to exact revenge on Brose Bamberg, which is just below it in the table, for the narrow defeat earlier in the season. Eight days later, cup finalist EWE Baskets Oldenburg comes to Würzburg, after which s.Oliver Würzburg travels to fifth-placed HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim for the next playoff tussle the following Tuesday.