73:70-win gets RSV Lahn-Dill into the Final Four
RSV Lahn-Dill has lifted the curse of Thueringen after two defeats against RSB Team Thueringen and saved their spot in the Final Four for the Wheelchair-Basketball-Cup. 1,300 spectators were there to witness this 73:70-success, after RSV Lahn-Dill II, however, sadly did not make it, losing against Hannover United (55:81).
RSV Lahn-Dill – RSB Team Thueringen 73:70 (19:15/36:38/49:55)
Spectators in the brimming August-Bebel-Sporthalle experienced a super-exciting fight for the cup, that brought the Wetzlar gym to the boil, most of all in the last couple of minutes. It was in the 38th minute that Nicolai Zeltinger’s team managed to creep up again from 56:65 (36th min) to 62:65 and as they were in ball-possession they were able to get even closer to the opposition. Zeltinger took a time-out, as there was only one second left on the clock for the perfect offence. This move should turn out to be priceless, as in this little second Joe Bestwick, seven meters away, sinks the ball in the opposition’s basket and therefore puts a draw on the scoreboard. The noise in the gym was mind-blowing, even though in the follow-up guest-Captain Taz Capasso got fouled during a three-point effort and managed to get all three free-throws in. As if in reply to this the awesomely directing RSV-Captain Michael Paye cancelled out Capasso’s achievement by sinking another three 2:01 minutes before the final whistle. Now there was no force to hold his team back, they topped to 70:68 (39th min) before Jan Haller forced the decision to a 72:70 with thirty seconds to go.
Before this the game did not look too rosy. After a concentrated and aggressive start the team around Top-Scorer Joe Bestwick was already leading 19:12 (10th min) when opponent Joakim Linden had to stay on the bench after three early fouls. But again it was the material that caused problems for RSV Lahn-Dill, when one of Joe Bestwick’s front castors broke. So far he had added 13 points to the board (25:19, 12th min), but after he went out all of a sudden the game stalled and Thueringen caught up quickly with a 17:2-run to a 27:36 (17th min).
This left the hosting team stumbling, whilst the team around an impressive Carpasso kept pressing. After half-time RSV tried to change the tide, but with great performances by Raimund Beginskis and Diana Dadzite the opposition always seemed to have an answer ready: 44:53 (28th min), 54:57 (32nd min) and 56:65 (36th min). But patience was rewarded, late but thankfully not too late. Another compliment has to be made to the team from Elxleben, who have, again, presented a great performance in this fight for the cup, and the disappointment about this hapless defeat is more than understandable.
“A game like this, where you’re behind nine points four minutes before the final whistle, and Thueringen has another impossible answer, and another, a game like this is only possible to win in your own gym. How the home fan carried us over forty minutes was overwhelming and a huge factor to our success.” Nicolai Zeltinger thanked the fans after the game.
Lahn-Dill: Joe Bestwick (26/1 three), Michael Paye (22/2 threes), Dirk Köhler
(18), Jan Haller (5), Thomas Böhme (2), Felix Schell , Thomas Gundert,
Björn Lohmann, Annabel Breuer
Thüringen: Taz Capasso (19), Joakim Linden (13), Raimund Beginskis (12/1),
Diana Dadzite (10), Aliaksandr Halouski (10), Teemu Partanen (6), Jens-Eike
Albrecht, Karol Szulc
RSV Lahn-Dill II – Hannover United 55:81 (11:29/29:40/42:61)
RSV Lahn-Dill II had to wave good-bye to the Cup-Semi Finals due to a nervous and defensively weak appearance against Hannover United.
The team was only able to keep the score close until 9:14 (6th min) against unbeaten top-of-the-table Hannover. RSV II had a difficult time stopping a 15:0-run and only managed to do so when the points difference was at twenty but seemed to gain a bit again when Top Scorer Mark Beissert sunk a three changing the board to 19:31 (13th min). But Hannover’s Tan Caglar hit two baskets in a row, therefore leading to a 21:39 (15th min) and keeping the Middle Hesse team at bay until half-time (29:40, 20th)
RSV II returned with a more concentrated defence and after a difficult basket by Zacharias Wittmann Captain David Amend added another 2 points (37:44, 24th minute), and for the first time since the initial phase seemed to get his team closer to the opposition. “We had a real chance in that phase, but sadly we got ourselves off balance and lost it again.” says RSV-Coach Daniel Stange disappointedly.
By the end of the third quarter Hannover had taken off irrevocably (42:61, 30st min). “Hannover was obviously the better and more determined team. We weren’t able to play out what we had planned on. The early deficit threw us completely.”
Lahn-Dill II: Mark Beissert (13/1), David Amend (12), Marco Zwerger (9),
Zacharias Wittmann (7), Jan Gans (6), Tristan Paar (4), Barbara Groß (2),
Christopher Huber (2), Carsten Crombach, Jens Schneidmüller.
Hannover: Thomas Schröder (26), Martin Kluck (20/1), Tan Caglar (18),
Michael Möllenbeck (6), Jan Sadler (6), Eike Gößling (5), Felix Heise, Niko
Kavazis, Andrea Seyrl.