74:57-success in top RBBL-game against Zwickau
RSV Lahn-Dill did not only defend their spot at the top of the table with a great game last Saturday, but also decided the 60th game against arch-rivals Zwickau for themselves. The brand-new scoreboard at August-Bebel-Sporthalle displayed a great 74:57 (23:9/44:28/62:42) result after 40 minutes definitely worth watching.
“The team presented themselves in an absolutely convincing manner in the first half” says RSV-coach Nicolai Zeltinger happily about the start of the game that had 1.400 spectators on the edge of their seats right from the first minute. After EM-Allstar Abdi Jama’s 2:0 (1st min) RSV went for it in their offence and had the crowd cheering for them straight away.
Old-dog Dirk Koehler was on fire, and captain Michael Paye put the first three in after only three minutes. But even that was overshadowed by Juniors World Champion Thomas Boehme, as the 22-year-old seemed unstoppable and scored 19 of his all-in-all 21 points before the break. So the lad from Bayreuth had a definite input to the 21:7 (9th min) and later 40:25 (18th min). Nicolai Zeltinger’s comment afterwards was as short as it was fitting: “Fantastic, this shows the way the boy is heading!”
The Saxons, who had started with a big line-up, had to take their first time-out in the third minute already and change their tactics, though still did not manage to slow down the hosts. Whilst Zwickau’s usual top-scorer Adam Erben had to leave the court early down to two fouls and did not come back, US-team mate Joe Chambers kept his team in the game with 12 points by half-time.
After the change-over the game was still going in the same direction with a 7:2-run including a three point play by Steve Serio. The 51:30 (23rd min) was the peak of the game, the biggest points-difference, but also a small turning point on this fifth game-day. “In the second half we definitely showed some weaknesses that show us very clearly that we’re still not at a level where we can keep going at that pace for a whole 40 minutes” says Zeltinger critically in his analysis. In this phase there was definitely a chance for Zwickau to get back into the game, but because of the definite advance of the hosting team Zwickau also missed a lot of chances. Despite an awesome game on both sides it’s obvious that there is still potential to grow.
The guests managed, after the 64:44 (31st min) by Michael Paye, to get closer again with 69:57 (39th min) mainly down to their best player that day, Abdi Jama. The atmosphere was boiling after an unsportsmanlike foul on US-American point-guard Michael Paye by Jama, but the following 5:0-run calmed the situation down very quickly. The crowd showed their appreciation after the game with standing ovations, cheering and loads of applause.
„We watched a great game, got two very important points, but also seen some deficits. “ Zeltinger as well as assistant-coach Ralf Neumann were both equally happy with their team’s performance. As well as US-duo Paye/Serio youngster Christopher Huber got some extra-praise after the game.
This game will now be followed by three away-games for RSV Lahn-Dill. Next week they will be playing their Hesse-derby in Frankfurt against Mainhatten Skywheelers, before they will travel to table-third Hamburg and then for the Cup games to Munich.
Lahn-Dill: Thomas Boehme (21/1 three), Michael Paye (21/1), Dirk Köhler (11), Steve Serio (11), Joe Bestwick (10), Annabel Breuer, Christopher Huber, Bjoern Lohmann, Marco Zwerger, Thomas Gundert (n.e.), Jan Haller (n.e.), Felix Schell (n.e.).
Zwickau: Joe Chambers (14), Abdi Jama (14), Ghazian Choudhry (10), Kai Moeller (7), Rostislav Pohlmann (6), Bryce Doody (4), Matt Seally (2), Adam Erben, Guenther Mayer, Frank Oehme, Tim Lange (n.e.).