63:76 defeat against new German Champions
Title-defendants RSV Lahn-Dill had to let go of their title as German Champions after being defeated by a great playing RSB Thuringia Bulls. On Saturday evening, the twelve-fold German Champions from Middle Hesse were defeated the second time in the second game of the best-of-three series 63:76 (11:16/28:46/46:54), after having been defeated 58:70 in the first game.
The Wetzlar Rollis played with high moral and fighting spirits, but were unable to keep up with the new German Champions, who worked together like a Swiss clockwork. The team displayed a lot of confidence in front of their home crowd and hit the basket from every position. RSV however, were noticeably insecure. “We did try to hold against the opposition with courage and the obvious desperation, but in the end it was unavoidable. Congratulations to Thuringia Bulls, the well-deserved new German Champions, even though we’re still a bit out of touch with the new situation.” said Head Coach Nicolai Zeltinger after the game.
This was partly down to the fact that his Captain Michael Paye had been injured in training the week before, which gave him a laceration of his elbow and an injury to the neck, so he was unable to attend training before the important game. “Overall the preconditions for the final weren’t perfect, but that does not mean that there is any question about the fact that the opposition has won the title well deservedly. There is no doubt about it.”
The starting line-up was the same as throughout the season, and after three minutes was the score 0:10 already, forcing Zeltinger to take his first timeout. The first basket that followed seemed to wake the guest’s energy though, and the team was finally there after a three by Steve Serio, changing the score to 9:14 (8th min).
But the same as before, RSV were struggling whilst trying to catch up. Even though they got their opposition to worry slightly at 25:29 (15th min), RSB kept their cool. National Player Andre Bienek played a world class game, scoring three spotless threes in the last 180 seconds before half-time. And the baskets that he did not score, Center Aliaksandr Halouski turned into points anyway. This 17:3 –run for the hosts put the score to 46:28 before half-time, a tough hit for the guests.
The Wetzlar team returned from the changing rooms with new strength, but first had to take another hit at 28:48 (31st min), before they started their catching up at 32:50 (33rd min). They still didn’t play perfectly, but they seemed to try everything to turn the game around. This worked well especially in their defense, when the hosting team only managed two baskets within 8 minutes. For RSV it was the trio Boehme, Schell and Serio who got their team close again, pushing the score to 48:56, getting them back to having a shot at winning.
Serio scored another three in the last ten minutes, which shortened the gap to seven points (57:64, 36th min), but as before the hope that the Bulls might get nervous and start making mistakes was disappointed. Even though RSV tried everything, the realization came latest at the 57:70 (38th min) score, and could finally congratulate the new German Champions.
“We’re obviously not going home happily, we have made too many mistakes. Nevertheless, we have to show respect to our team for their morale with the current situation.” said RSV-manager Andreas Joneck after the game. He added: “Congratulations to Thuringia Bulls, who got their well-deserved German title. We’re looking forward to taking on the role of the huntsmen, we’ll do our very best, we promise.” Now the team has two weeks to get their heads straight before they will be travelling to Zwickau, to take part in Champions Cup from the 6th to the 8th of May. The Thüringen team will already play again this Friday, when they participate in André-Vergauwen-Cup in Valladolid, Spain.
Thüringen: Aliaksandr Halouski (22), André Bienek (20/3 Dreier), Raimund Beginskis (14/1), Joakim Linden (10), Jens-Eike Albrecht (4), Teemu Partanen (4), Venckus Nerijus (2), Dan Highcock, Marcus Kietzer (n.e.), Marvin Malsy (n.e.).
Lahn-Dill: Thomas Böhme (16), Steve Serio (16/2), Felix Schell (15), Michael Paye (14), Joe Bestwick (2), Annabel Breuer, Dirk Köhler, Björn Lohmann, Nico Dreimüller (n.e.), Jan Haller (n.e.), Christopher Huber (n.e.), Marco Zwerger (n.e.).