Sovereign 76:48-success against bottom-of-the-table team HanoverTitle-defendants RSV Lahn-Dill were able to start successfully into the new year, beating Hanover 76:48 (23:10/46:30/64:40) and therefore continuing to keep up with leading team Thüringen. Top scorers in this 11th game of the RBBL were Joe Bestwick and Thomas Böhme with 17 points each. The gym was well filled with around 400 spectators, when RSV was first behind 1:4 (2nd min), but made up with a lot of pressure in the following minutes. At 14:6 (7th min) Steve Serio had already scored his eighth point, despite having only just returned from National Training Camp on the day before. The second quarter was opened with a three-point-play by Thomas Böhme, leading to 26:12 (11th min). “We started off strong, concentrated and with a lot of pressure, but in the second quarter we let down our defense quite a bit.” said RSV Head Coach Nicolai Zeltinger about the first half. “One reason was certainly our continuous rotation on the court, as well as a high hit-ratio for Hanover.”This was Zeltinger hinting at a good run Hanover had after well-performing Eike Gößling scored a three, which changed the score from a comfortable 35:18 (14th min) to a closer 37:26 (17th min). The determination of the hosting team was generally very noticeable, as their next game next week against Frankfurt will be their last chance to avoid relegation. Head Coach Martin Kluck had set up his team perfectly, and with 17-year-old Oliver Jantz he also had one of the strongest players on court. After changeover the guests from Wetzlar returned to keeping up the pace, so that everyone but injured Marco Zwerger was able to play good minutes. This continued until the 66:41 (31st min) scored by Felix Schell, after losing a bit of wind again in the fourth quarter. “This start into the new year was okay, taking into account the very short preparation-phase. I especially liked to see the performances of Joe Bestwick, and defensively Björn Lohmann. Felix Schell also had very good moments.” Zelitnger seemed all in all happy with the game in Hanover, Jan Haller’s city of origin. A convincing performance was also shown by Steve Serio, who got a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, only 30 hours after returning from the States. Next weekend RSV Lahn-Dill will be having their first home game of the year against USC München.
Hannover: Eike Gößling (9/1 Dreier), Oliver Jantz (9), Leon Ole Schöneberg (8), Linda Dahle (7), Jan Sadler (7), Phillip Schorp (4), Sebastiao Nijman (2), Heiko Müllers, Thomas Schröder, Andrea Seyrl, Martin Kluck (n.e.), Michael Möllenbeck (n.e.).
Lahn-Dill: Joe Bestwick (17), Thomas Böhme (17/1), Steve Serio (15), Felix Schell (9), Dirk Köhler (8), Michael Paye (8), Nico Dreimüller (2), Annabel Breuer, Jan Haller, Christopher Huber, Björn Lohmann, Marco Zwerger (n.e.).