81:47-semifinal win against Köln 99ers – Final against Zwickau
Seven-time German Champion RSV Lahn-Dill left no doubt about the fact that they are willing to defend their title also in 2011. The defending Champion knocked the team from Cologne out of the semifinal with a clear 81:47 (22:10/44:27/63:37) win.
In front of 1250 fans at the August-Bebel-Arena, in the end it was a 45-points difference after two games that didn´t give the team around former RSV-player Patrick Anderson a chance during this semifinal-round.
Until 9:8 (5.) from Michael Paye the guests from Cologne were able to believe in a surprise, but from this point on Captain Joey Johnson, who scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and his teammates left no doubt about the fact who would be moving into the next round after the 40 minutes of great Basketball.
"Today I am very proud of my team that had to deal with a couple of injuries and sicknesses during the last week of practice but was totally present at the point.", Headcoach Nicolai Zeltinger was impressed and satified after the game. "Those skills are necessary to win titles."
Especially the US-Duo Michael Paye (22 points, 11 assists) and Steve Serio (30 points; hitting 81 percent of his shots from the field) was full of witty playfulness and left the 31-year-old Canadian Patrick Anderson out in the rain. Anderson, who was welcomed very friendly by the fans, seemed a bit reserved during his return to the August-Bebel-Arena with scoring only 11 points.
„We controlled the game in offense and defense totally. Although we had a bad week in practice because of injuries and some players who called in sick, the power the team showed today makes me very confident for the games next week at the Cup-Final-Four and the Finals for the German Championship“, Coach Zeltinger complimented his team.
Pictures by Jörg Theimer at www.gute-blende.de.
Video of the game (German language) at the sports-section of www.mittelhessen.de
Lahn-Dill: Steve Serio (30), Michael Paye (22), Joey Johnson (13), Thomas Böhme (4), Dirk Köhler (4), Gesche Schünemann (4), Thomas Gundert (2), Felix Schell (2), Jan Gans, Mina Mojtahedi.
Cologne: Serdar Antac (12), Patrick Anderson (11), Mark Broeze (6), Patrick Richter (6), Walter Groen (4), Jaap Smid (4), Michael D´Amelio (2), Michalis Steriopoulos (2), Andrew Flavell, Gabriel Kasapoglu, Sedat Özbicerler, Matthew Rollston.
Semifinal 2:
RSC-Rollis Zwickau – ASV Bonn 73:67 (14:15/27:33/52:46)