101:35 win at home in the Hesse-derby against Frankfurt
The Wetzlar team did not only get their highest win of the season against local opposition Frankfurt, but also their most obvious success against the traditional club. It was Steve Serio who got the 100th point eight seconds before the final whistle, leading to the 101:35 (29:8/53:17/75:25) win.
The around 1.000 visitors were already giving their team standing ovations for the last minute of the game, when a long pass reached captain Michael Paye behind the half-way line. Two quick passes between him and Serio, and the ball was in Frankfurt’s basket. This scene was the coronation of a generally quick game. It was also Steve Serio who got the spectators off their seats when he scored a three basically with the final whistle of the first quarter, from 14 metres away (29:8).
Before this, the heated game was pretty even until the 6:6 (2nd min), but then RSV changed from defence to offence and took off via 16:6 (5th min) and 24:8 (8th min). Captain Michael Paye and his team worked focussed and didn’t let opportunities pass.
The game continued the same way in the second quarter, when Briton Joe Bestwick scored six points in a row, changing the score to 36:11 (14th min). Thomas Boehme scored to 46:15 (18th min), and at half time there was no danger of the hosts losing their advance as they have done in their previous games against the Skywheelers.
The third quarter served as a try-out for the Hamburg line-up that will be used on the first game of the new year, when the Americans will be with their national team and the NWBA. But these changes also didn’t leave any doubts about who was in control of the game. Boehme and Jan Haller excited the spectators with a fast-break in the 32nd minute, leading to 79:72, but in the last couple of minutes, the 100-points-barrier seemed to be further and further away. But RSV gave their all, and Felix Schell raised the score to 99:33 (40th min) before Serio did his magic.
Lahn-Dill: Michael Paye (24), Thomas Böhme (22/1 three), Steve Serio (19/2), Joe Bestwick (13), Dirk Köhler (10), Felix Schell (8), Jan Haller (3), , Björn Lohmann (2), Annabel Breuer, Christopher Huber, Marco Zwerger.
Frankfurt: Sebastian Spitznagel (9), Sven Diedrich (8), Andreas Kress (6), Anne Brießmann (4), Lars Lehmann (4), Johannes Hengst (2), Maria Kühn (2), Tim Diedrich, Anna-Maria Müller.