First success of the year with 58:43
The about 60 fans who had travelled after their team to watch the game on Sunday had reason to be cheerful, as RSV managed to defend their lead of the table with 58:43 (17:4/30:15/44:26) against BSC-Rollers Zwickau. The guests mainly lived off their brilliant start, whilst the Saxon team caught up in the second half.
Last week’s home-defeat was still noticeable, and the Wetzlar team started all the more powerful, not giving the Rollers time to breathe. It was captain Michael Paye who scored the 13:0 in the seventh minute, before National Player Kai Moeller was able to score the first points for his team.
Zwickau found their way better into the game though, especially Czech Rostislav Pohlmann. He took advantage of any gap in the RSV-defence, and just before half-time he was responsible for the 11:25 (18th min), whilst Wetzlar seemed to be dealing pretty well with Adam Erben and Kai Moeller. “We were planning on keeping those two out of the game, and it seems it worked out well.” RSV-coach Nicolai Zeltinger was happy about his tactics, and could easily live with Pohlmann scoring. His team seemed a lot more confident in this game after the return of the Americans Michael Paye and Steve Serio, and especially Briton Joe Bestwick was able to shine before half-time.
After change-over there seemed to be a tear in the game, as it had been running so smoothly beforehand. The defence stood solidly still, but the guests were struggling to break through their opposition to get to the basket. “Analysing the game now I have to admit that we did make too many changes in the line-up, which certainly did not help to keep the game flowing” said Zeltinger after the game.
Hence, the opposition got to shorten the points-difference to 23:34 (26th min), before Serio scored the 36:23 and later the 48:31 (34th min) for his team. He also got a nice ‘double-double’ with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Still, the lead was not to be taken away from RSV, too strong a defence and the strength of their nerves. In the end it was Dirk Koehler who scored the crucial 56:39 (38th min), despite it deciding the game.
“We played well, but not outstandingly. It was important to win against the table-third team, and we managed this sovereignly.” Zeltinger is now looking forward to welcoming FCK Rolling Devils Kaiserslautern with former RSV-player Mark Beissert at home next week.
Zwickau: Rostislav Pohlmann (16), Matt Sealy (9), Bryce Doody (5), Kai Möller (5), Adam Erben (4), Günther Mayer (2), Michal Polacek (2), Benjamin Kenyon, Julia Kittlaus.
Lahn-Dill: Steve Serio (15), Michael Paye (14), Joe Bestwick (10), Dirk Köhler (8), Jan Haller (7), Thomas Böhme (2), Marco Zwerger (2), Annabel Breuer, Christopher Huber, Björn Lohmann, Felix Schell.