Pohlmann tried hard to bring Zwickau back – 1550 celebrate the double
A special push of energy from Joey Johnson and an outstanding Michael Paye (34) lead their team and saved RSV Lahn-Dill its eighth German Championship in club history. In game two of the final best-of-three-series the team from Wetzlar beat the RSC Rollis Zwickau by 76:72 (18:20/34:31/54:48) and decided the series 2:0.
1550 Fans at the August-Bebel-Sporthalle saw a nervous start of both teams until Zwickau got on a roll and after an early timeout for Wetzlar and a three-pointer by Piotr Luszynski the scoreboard showed a 7:14(5.). But the defending champion came back and after Dirk Köhler finished a three-point-play (12:16;9.) it was Steve Serio who scored the 18:20 right before the ending of the first quarter.
After two lay-ups by Mikey Paye it was the Captain Joey Johnson who scored Wetzlar´s first lead (26:25;13.). Zwickau continued to keep the game close and the first half ended by 34:31.
During the third quarter it was a world-class performance by Joey Johnson that brought the deciding push for Lahn-Dill: The captain rushed through Zwickau´s defense for a lay-up and was fouled to get another shot from the free-throw-line. He grabbed his own rebound and repeated this procedure three times in a row to score the first double-figure-lead to a 46:35,24.
But with two offensive-fouls and a travelling the defending-champion brought himself under pressure again. With Doody´s layup to a 52:48 the advantage was almost cut.
During the last five minutes the game was ruled by Joey Johnson, who thrilled his teammates with great assists and another important lay-up and on the other side it was Rotislav Pohlmann who showed a lot of moral by scoring 15 points in six minutes to keep the game close until the end; but after an assist by Johnson it was Top-scorer Michael Paye who scored the deciding 72:64 by 70 seconds to go.
Lahn-Dill: Paye (34), Johnson (17), Köhler (11), Serio (7), Böhme (2), Gerlach (2), Schünemann (2), Mojtahedi (1), Gundert (n.e.), Schell (n.e.), .
Zwickau: Luszynski (19/2 Dreier), Pohlmann (17/2), Bandura (10), Beginskis (10/1), Doody (8), Balcerowski (4), Oehme (2), Dadzite (2), Mayer (n.e.), Möller (n.e.).