75:37-success over Jena Caputs – Zwickau loses at home
RSV Lahn-Dill did their duty confidently on this 8th game day at home and defeated underdog Jena Caputs with 75:37 (16:4/35:16/56:27). Dirk Koehler added 6 points to the scoreboard when he celebrated his 20-year anniversary with the nine-time German Champions this Saturday in front of 1,000 spectators in the August-Bebel-Sporthalle in Wetzlar.
The RSV-engine needed about four minutes to get into gear though. Until then the team from Jena were fighting for the 4:4 (4th min). Only as the defensive pressure rose the hosts managed to show off what they can do and took off to a 18:4 lead (11th min). But at this point already it was obvious that the Middle Hesse team was not playing up to their limits, even though the game seemed a done deal at half time already (25:8, 15th min).
“Of course we cannot be happy with the number of baskets we have scored today. But as we are working hard on conditioning at the moment I do understand the team’s heavy arms.” analyses RSV-Coach Nicolai Zeltinger the low 49-percent hit rate. He sees it realistically and adds “But looking forward to our two top-games in December against RSB Team Thueringen I’m sure this will pay off.”
Joe Bestwick seemed pretty much unimpressed by the stats and advanced with 9 rebounds and 23 points in offence to this game’s top scorer and was hitting about 80 per cent. Despite the Briton newbie, who becomes a solid part of the team more and more each time, it was again Thomas Boehme who shone on the court. The 21-year-old national player got 10 rebounds, scored 14 points, served 9 assists, and all that in 30 minutes. With those actions he was one of the main reasons for the lead at half time. “Not only his stats are impressive, but also his great understanding of the game and his intelligent and prospective play are convincing.” says Zeltinger about his player’s appearance on court.
After the change-over Joe Bestwick’s time had come, who took his team ahead on his own in the third quarter with 15 points against the guests from Jena. Via 51:27 (29th min) and 65:30 (35th min) the team bagged an invulnerable home-win, sadly without presenting themselves in the best light. Meanwhile arch-rival RSC Zwickau had to suffer a bitter defeat at home. Losing 60:67 against Team Thueringen they dropped into the third spot of the table and therefore lost valuable ground. The team from Elxleben, Thuringia, visiting Wetzlar’s August-Bebel-Sporthalle twice in December for the League and the Cup, defended their table-lead impressively.
Lahn-Dill: Joe Bestwick (23), Thomas Böhme (14/1 Dreier), Michael Paye (12),
Gesche Schünemann (12), Dirk Köhler (6), Jan Haller (4), Felix Schell (4),
Thomas Gundert, Björn Lohmann.
Jena: Matthias Heimbach (13), Andy Ortmann (9), Mehmet Hayirli (8), Eric
Zinke (5), Franziska Vogel (2), Marcus Kietzer, Torsten Schüler.