s.Oliver Würzburg stages second-half comeback to defeat FRAPORT SKYLINERS 72:63

For the second time in succession, s.Oliver Würzburg has turned around a game in the easyCredit German Basketball League with an impressive power-packed performance at the death: In front of 2,907 spectators in the s.Oliver Arena, the players of Head Coach Denis Wucherer scored 21 points more than the visitors from Frankfurt in the final 15 minutes to deservedly win an exciting and intense tussle against FRAPORT SKYLINERS by 72:63 (29:37). “The team got the crowd behind it in the third period and then we defended with a great deal more commitment and passion in the final 15 minutes,” said Wucherer afterwards.

Würzburg’s Head Coach was not able to call on three players in the club’s 14th home game of the season in the German league: Mike Morrison is still plagued by knee problems, Joshua Obiesie played for the International Basketball Academy Munich in the NBBL on Wednesday and will travel in the coming days to the NIKE Hoop Summit in Portland/Oregon, and Felix Hoffmann withdrew with an ankle injury. The “Würzburg Warrior” was replaced by Devin Oliver in the starting five, which managed to keep the game evenly poised in the opening spell, as the visitors from the city by the River Main took a narrow lead (7:8 in the 4th minute).

In a very intense game that was fiercely contested by both sides, however, the home side repeatedly let its concentration slip and committed mistakes in attack, whereas Frankfurt’s tall players were able to come out on top at the board time and again or win free throws: Leon Kratzer, Jonas Wohlfahrt-Bottermann and Niklas Kiel not only scored 26 of the Skyliners’ 37 points in the first half, but also snapped up one rebound after the other.

Frankfurter claimed an amazing 20 more rebounds than s.Oliver Würzburg (28 to 8) up to the break. At the same time, however, the visitors also conceded 13 of its 25 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, so that the home side remained in striking distance at the break (29:37). “We can be lucky we were only trailing by eight points. We then played with more aggression in the second half and defended more tenaciously against Frankfurt’s tall players,” said Wucherer.

Frankfurt’s Head Coach Gordon Herbert saw Wohlfahrt-Bottermann, Kratzer and Kiel add a meager six points in the second half – and that was one of the keys to Würzburg’s successful comeback, which began in the 26th minute with the scores standing at 35:47. A 14:2 run, which was finished in spectacular fashion by Xavier Cooks with a slam-dunk, tied the scores at 49:49 in the 30th minute – the game was completely up for grabs again going into the final period.

Although the visitors were able to open up a slight gap again with four straight points by Tyler Larson with two free throws to close the third period and a jump shot at the start of the final quarter (49:53 in the 31st minute), the lead would only change hands three times after that. First of all, Jordan Hulls and Florian Koch drained two buckets from beyond the arc to put s.Oliver Würzburg in front for the first time (55:53 in the 33rd minute). Akeem Vargas and Niklas Kiel snatched the lead again (55:58 in the 34th minute), but Würzburg hit back right away with a 7:0 run to make it 62:58 in the 37th minute.

A timeout by Gordon Herbert was also not able to prevent Würzburg capturing its 14th win of the season. Skyler Bowlin as good as sealed victory with his second three of the game to put his side 67:61 ahead with just over one-and-a-half minutes remaining and then drained another shot from downtown on the buzzer to make the final score 72:63.

“That was an important victory, but nothing more. We aim to take another step toward the playoffs on Sunday,” said Bowlin afterwards.