s.Oliver Würzburg defeats MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg by 80:75

s.Oliver Würzburg again made things exciting in its fifth game of the still young easyCredit German Basketball League season: The team of Head Coach Denis Wucherer captured its second win of the new campaign on the road at MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg thanks to an excellent 3-point field goal percentage in the first half and strong defending at the death.

The four previous German league games for the club from Lower Franconia were all nail-biters and ended with just four points separating the teams. That was also not much different on Saturday evening in the MHP Arena in Ludwigsburg: Just under 3,400 spectators saw a game that was exciting and evenly balanced over large stretches and was only decided in crunch time.

Unlike in the last two games against Gießen and Bayreuth, s.Oliver Würzburg produced a focused performance from the outset this time and was always able to keep the game up for grabs. Ludwigsburg took an early 5:0 lead, but Würzburg struck back, buoyed by its two victories against Bayreuth and at the Dutch league runners-up in Leiden. The ball moved smoothly between many hands in attack and repeatedly found a free-standing player who drained the shots from beyond the arc.

Würzburg had its strongest spell in the first half between the 10th and 14th minute, when Jordan Hulls chalked up 11 points and three buckets from downtown and so almost single-handedly conjured up a 14:3 run that helped his team pull ahead from 18:18 to 21:32. However, the home side then turned on the screws and produced a 18:3 spurt in the space of four minutes to regain the lead.

The encounter remained tight in the third period, with the club from Swabia first moving five points ahead and then s.Oliver Würzburg. However, the encounter was almost tied again by the 30th minute (59:60). Wucherer’s team was able to build a decisive lead in the opening five minutes of the final period, pulling away by 68:74. Although Ludwigsburg clawed its way back to 75:76 in a hectic closing spell where there were few successful attacks by either side, Würzburg’s defense did not concede any more points.

The game was sealed with a lay-up by Cameron Wells to make it 75:80 with 17 seconds remaining on the clock.