s.Oliver Würzburg defeats 46ers on the road by the clear margin of 101:84

s.Oliver Würzburg continued its winning streak on the 19th matchday of the easyCredit German Basketball League: The team of Head Coach Denis Wucherer romped to an impressive victory by the deserved margin of 101:84 away at GIESSEN 46ers on Sunday. A crucial factor in its fourth straight win in the domestic league was a combination of strong defending and a great deal of confidence in attack, as a result of which the club from Lower Franconia was able to carve out a 20-point lead in the course of the third period. Xavier Cooks ended a comeback by the 46ers in the final period by scoring seven points in a row.

The visitors were highly focused from the tip-off and attacked their opponents uncompromisingly at the board. Mike Morrison notched up Würzburg’s first six points, including a thunderous alley-oop slam-dunk after a pass by Skyler Bowlin. “It was obvious today that, unlike in our game earlier in the season, we had two more days to prepare for John Bryant – especially the way he defends,” said Wucherer afterwards. The 3,752 crowd in Gießen’s sold-out Osthalle saw an evenly poised encounter in the first period, in which s.Oliver Würzburg did not manage to open up a gap until the tenth minute (16:22).

In the second quarter, the club from Central Hesse succeeded in tying the scores again with seven free throws (32:32 in the 14th minute). One minute later Larry Gordon put the 46ers ahead once more (36:34), forcing Wucherer to call a timeout. Immediately after that, Mike Morrison after an offensive rebound and Jordan Hulls from beyond the arc snatched the lead back (36:39 in the 17 minute) – and the visitors would no longer relinquish it. s.Oliver Würzburg then produced a run of eight points without reply in the last two-and-a-half minutes of the first half to go in leading by 51:42.

The visitors extended their run to 13:0 right after the break when Xavier Cooks drained a three and Morrison added his next lay-up. The club from Lower Franconia defended especially well in this phase – the 46ers chalked up a meager six points up to the 25th minute and so s.Oliver Würzburg was able to stretch the gap to 20 points (48:68). Two quick threes from Mahir Agva and David Bell sparked a comeback by the 46ers, who were able to slice the deficit in half by the end of the third quarter (64:74).

Würzburg’s lead had even dwindled to 68:75 in the 33rd minute, but then Xavier Cooks quickly sealed the encounter: After an unsporting foul by Benjamin Lischka, the rookie from Australia single-handedly added seven straight points to initiate the decisive 16:2 run that put his side 70:91 in front in the 37th minute and enable Würzburg to capture its eighth win of the season – and the better aggregate against GIESSEN 46ers.