70:72 defeat against Thuringia Bulls
Title-defendants RSV Lahn-Dill had to congratulate their opposition in the final, RSB Thuringia Bulls. In their 32nd DRS Cup Final the twelve-fold Cup winners were defeated by two points at 70:72 (12:21/32:36/51:56) by hosting team Thueringen. RSV had won in the semi final against Hamburg and Thueringen defeated BSC-Rollers Zwickau 63:50.
Not even the presence of Wetzlar's mayor Manfred Wagner. The team was behind in the first quarter already, after the 6:4 (2nd min) came the 6:15 (8th min). Especially Swiss Joakim Linden and National Player Aliaksandr Halouski were difficult to tame. "Even though overall it was a pretty level game, we did make a lot of mistakes in the first half, which we were not able to make up for in the second half." said RSV-Coach Nicolai Zeltinger after the game.
After the 7:19 (8th min) RSV seemed to get back into the game, and Thomas Boehme and Joe Bestwick scored, leading to 17:23 (13th min). Before half time Steve Serio showed the fans what he's got when he scored three times from beyond the 6.75m-line within four minutes.
With the third quarter a typical Cup-fight had started, in which RSV were able to get closer and closer again. Captain Michael Paye shortened the gap to 38:41 (24th min) before Serio scored a three point play, leading to a 41:43 (25th min) score. But whenever a win seemed to be close, the opposition showed off their own skills again. Five attacks later, and Halouski had added another 8 points for his team (54:47, 29th min).
In the last quarter the win seemed far, far away for the Hesse team, when Linden turned a three-point-play into the 63:53 (32nd min) score. But the same way it has done before, this game, too, should become a fight until the bitter end. Two years ago RSV triumphed after the final went into overtime, and after points by Boehme and 80 seconds to go it looked like history seemed to be history repeating. A shock for the fans, the score was at 70:70 all of a sudden. But this time lady luck was with Thuringia Bulls, who got their well-deserved win in the end with 2 successful free-throws.
"First of all we would like to congratulate Thuringia Bulls, who after a lot of tight duels have managed their first national title." said RSV-Coach Zeltinger after the game: "Now we have six days to lick our wounds and prepare ourselves for the next game. This defeat should give us enough motivation for revenge." Next Saturday the first of the best-of-three series in the RBBL Playoffs will take place at 19:30 in August-Bebel-Sporthalle Wetzlar. Game number two and a possible third game will be on the 16th and 17th of April on Elxleben.
Lahn-Dill: Steve Serio (22/3 Dreier), Joe Bestwick (16), Thomas Böhme (15), Michael Paye (10), Dirk Köhler (7), Annabel Breuer, Nico Dreimüller, Björn Lohmann, Jan Haller (n.e.), Christopher Huber (n.e.), Felix Schell (n.e.).
Thüringen: Raimund Beginskis (21), Aliaksandr Halouski (17), Joakim Linden (17/1 Dreier), Teemu Partanen (12), André Bienek (5), Jens Eike Albrecht, Dan Highcock (n.e.), Marcus Kietzer (n.e.), Venckus Nerijus (n.e.).