s.Oliver Würzburg loses 86:91 (41:45) on the road at Telekom Baskets Bonn after a good start

It was yet again thrilling right down to the wire, as s.Oliver Würzburg lost its friendly at Telekom Baskets Bonn on Sunday by the narrow margin of 86:91 (41:45). “I didn’t see any great difference between the sides today, apart from the 3-point field goal percentage,” said Head Coach Denis Wucherer afterwards.

Both sides produced two completely different periods in the first half: The visitors dominated the opening quarter, were 0:5 ahead after two minutes and then did not let themselves be thrown off track even by a minor recovery by Bonn. A slam-dunk by Xavier Cooks on a fast break, a bucket from downtown by Jordan Hulls, a lay-up from Kresimir Loncar after a strong move, and a buzzer-beating jump shot by the former Bonn player Florian Koch created a run of nine points without reply for s.Oliver Würzburg to end the first period and leave the home side trailing 13:23.

That game was turned on its head in the second quarter: Whereas the club from the Rhineland had made just one out of seven attempted threes up to then, it now felt as if every single one dropped through Würzburg’s hoop. s.Oliver Würzburg was still 28:32 ahead after a three by Perry Ellis in the 15th minute, but then Gibson and Jasinski made two shots in succession to force Denis Wucherer to call a timeout with the score at 34:32.

After that, the lead changed hands just twice – for the last time when James Webb added another three-pointer to make it 41:38. Perry Ellis with a free throw and Johannes Richter with a slam-dunk put up resistance, but Ra‘Shad James then added five points, with the result that the home wide went in at half-time 45:41 in front. And it continued in the same vein at the start of the third period: Webb drained the next shot from outside right away and James followed that up with another – and the upshot was that Bonn was able to take a double-digit lead in the third period (62:51 in the 28th minute). The visitors did not let themselves be discouraged by that, either, and remained in contention – but were no longer able to turn the game around.

“It was a lively game that was decided in the end by the 3-point field goal percentage. Bonn has two players – Ra‘Shad James and Shane Gibson – who can make a lot out of nothing. They take and score shots that are very difficult to defend against,” said Denis Wucherer after the encounter. By that, he meant situations like the one in the 35th minute, when his team again clawed its way back to 76:69, but Ra‘Shad James immediately restored the double-digit lead with his second three. Or an untelegraphed jump shot by Bonn’s top scorer to make it 82:73 after Felix Hoffmann had missed a lay-up at the other end.

Yet even that was not enough to shake off s.Oliver Würzburg once and for all. Cameron Wells and Perry Ellis continued to put up resistance in offense – and after a beautifully carved-out bucket from beyond the arc by Ellis, the visitors were back in touch at 87:84 with 22 seconds left on the clock. However, Würzburg could manage no more.