91:54 success at Arena Trier – Bestwick and Serio top scorers
Title-defendants RSV Lahn-Dill seem to be well prepared for the summit game this upcoming weekend against top-of-the-table team Thuringia Bulls. Captain Michael Paye and his team did great in their dress rehearsal and won 91:54 (24:15/46:23/67:41) against number four in the league, Doneck Dolphins Trier. “This was a great performance for us!” said a happy Head Coach Nicolai Zeltinger after the final siren. “We were focussed, aggressive, and we definitely managed to keep the topscorer of the league, Dirk Passiwan, at bay.” Trier’s most dangerous offensive player still scored 18 points for his team, but as his average is around 34 points, Zeltinger could live with the damage very well.
Despite RSV having the lead from the start, the game was pretty level in the first quarter. Dutchman Mattijs Bellers shortened the gap to 6:10 (4th min), before Latvian Diana Dadzite got a three into the RSV basket, leading to 13:18 (8th min). At the start of the second quarter Passiwan scored another three leading to 18:24 (11th min), despite RSV having had doubled their efforts to contain his play.
In the first quarter it was especially the US-American duo Michael Paye and Steve Serio, who got their team the lead. This job was then taken over by Annabel Breuer and Joe Bestwick, who carried their team’s offence. Particularly the British Center was nearly unstoppable, scoring just as well from the middle distance as well as from the free-throw line. The reward was the 20:34 lead (15th min). “Joe has given us a lot of energy in this phase with his physical play, as he has done often before. This was very important for the rest of the team.” praised Zeltinger his number four. Steve Serio’s job was taken over by Michael Paye and Thomas Boehme after the team returned from the changing rooms after half time, both scoring high percentages. It took two minutes for the guests to find back into the game, whilst Trier had a smooth start into the second half. But then RSV showed off what they can do: within six minutes the guards Boehme and Paye scored three threes, before National Player Annabel Breuer increased the score to 67:41 at the end of the third quarter. “Especially our three guards Mikey, Steve and Tommy did a great job today.” said Zeltinger about his offensive trio. “But the other only rounded up this great performance. Originally we didn’t want to rotate so much on court, with Thueringen coming up next week, but Jan Haller and Nico Dreimueller showed me that I was wrong about that.”In the last quarter it was again Bestwick, who helped keep up his team by not losing his determination. His team won the last quarter 24:13, without losing their focus at all. This was a brilliant performance, one that the Middle-Hesse team wish to repeat this Saturday at home at August-Bebel-Sporthalle. But Thueringen is working hard for their next game, winning 79:55 against BG Baskets Hamburg. A promising look ahead for the next game, which will take place at 19:30.
Trier: Dirk Passiwan (18/2 Dreier), Mattijs Bellers (12), Diana Dadzite (9/1), Edgaras Chiaplinskas (7), Tracey Ferguson (6), Martin Koltes (2), Valeska Finger, Frank de Jong, Edwin Klein.
Lahn-Dill: Joe Bestwick (24), Steve Serio (24), Michael Paye (15/1), Thomas Böhme (12/2), Dirk Köhler (10), Annabel Breuer (2), Nico Dreimüller (2), Jan Haller (2), Christopher Huber, Björn Lohmann, Felix Schell.