Commanding home victory for Würzburg

Nine buckets from downtown out of 12 attempts: That was the joint haul of the two top scorers Jordan Hulls (24 points) and Florian Koch (19) in s.Oliver Würzburg’s 90:75 home victory against BG Göttingen on the 2nd game day of the easyCredit German Basketball League. After a restrained start to the encounter, Hulls and Koch notched up 20 points in succession in the first half to give the home side a decisive lead. The team of Denis Wucherer was able to open up a double-digit gap before the break and ended up coasting to a commanding first win of the season.

Following the good displays in Oldenburg and Berlin, there was no reason for Würzburg’s Head Coach to fiddle around with his starting five and so it was Cameron Wells, Skyler Bowlin, Noah Allen, Brekkott Chapman and Johannes Richter who were on court for the tip-off on the club’s first home game of the season. Noah Allen scored the first five points for s.Oliver Würzburg (5:5 in the 3rd minute), but then his compatriot and namesake in the violet dress took over: Göttingen’s power forward Terry Allen added ten out of his total of 21 points in the first seven minutes to give his side an early 11:16 lead. The home side then cast aside its initial nervousness in front of the almost 3,000 spectators in Würzburg’s cauldron and found its rhythm in offense. Jordan Hulls and Florian Koch managed to do that quickest: They chalked up ten points in succession, including a bucket from outside by Koch to tie the scores at 18:18, and another by Hulls to put his side 21:20 in front by the end of the first period.

Würzburg’s two top scorers continued in the same vein in the second quarter, adding the next ten points as well and forcing Göttingen’s Head Coach Johan Roijakkers to call his first timeout with his team trailing 31:25 in the 13th minute. “I’ll have to look at my scouting report again to see whether it says that Jordan Hulls can drain threes,” joked the Dutchman afterwards. The “Sniper from Indiana” had amassed 21 points, including four threes, by half-time. After the home side had built a clear 17-point lead (49:32 in the 19th minute), the visitors from Southern Lower Saxony put up more intense resistance and were able to cut the gap to 51:38 by the break.

Göttingen initially had the better of the game in the third period as well and was able to capitalize on a weak spell for Würzburg in offense to reduce its deficit further. It was not until the 24th minute that Skyler Bowlin got the home side off the mark in the second half (from the foul line) – and it managed a meager four in the first five minutes of the third quarter. The Violets drew closer thanks to threes by Terry Allen, Elias Lasisi and Kyan Anderson and a bucket by Dennis Kramer (55:50 in the 26th minute). Then the visitors left Johannes Richter alone at the arc and he ended the barren period in attack to make it 58:50. The remainder of the third period again belonged to Florian Koch: With three buckets from downtown and a total of 11 points in the space of less than four minutes, he repeatedly brought the crowd to its feet and recaptured a double-digit lead for his side single-handedly, enabling it to go into the final quarter 69:58 ahead. In the final ten minutes the visitors did not manage to pose any serious danger of robbing s.Oliver Würzburg of a deserved home victory.

Before and after a lengthy interruption due to technical problems with the clock above the goal, it was Luke Fischer who extended Würzburg’s lead to 20 points (88:68 in the 38th minute), first with a thunderous slam-dunk and then with a lay-up after a fast break, and so dispel any lingering doubts as to the game’s outcome.

https://www.soliver-wuerzburg.de/