Hard work, but win against strong 99ers

69:57-success against Cologne secures winning streak

RSV Lahn-Dill have won their third game of the season against Cologne 99ers. Last Saturday they beat the team from the river Rhine 69:57 (14:9/34:24/54:43) at home, but it was a fight until the end.

And that despite a brilliant start, with the team leading 8:0 after only two and a half minutes thanks to Luszynski, Koehler and Boehme. It took Cologne until the middle of the second quarter to get used to their opposition, who had started with Captain Michael Paye and National Player Annabel Breuer as well.

But especially Cologne’s newbie Naohiro Murakami managed to break through RSV’s defence again and again. His second three in the 11th minute meant the score being pushed to 12:14, and it was mainly him who was responsible for the fact, that the game ended up being quite a tough one for RSV.

It was obvious on both sides, that there was still some time needed to optimise the flow within the teams. The performances of the teams was not impressive, but individual players were. For Cologne these individuals were Murakami and Briton Jordan Bright, as well as Japanese Mari Amimoto and Briton Helen Freeman.

For Wetzlar one of these players was especially Thomas Boehme, who scored 14 points before half time, and it was also him who, after the worrying 22:19 (15th min), scored three baskets in a row, pushing the slightly more comfortable 34:24-score at half time.

“Today we didn’t managed more than an average performance, even though we managed to win every quarter.” said RSV Head Coach Zeltinger after the game. “Despite the criticism for ourselves we also have to give credit to Cologne. They have a lot of new and skilled players who did a great job today.”

After half-time, not a lot had changed. RSV tried very hard, but mainly to no avail, to increase the gap. Every time they were able to pull away a bit, the 99ers fought back and scored well from the free-throw line, too, as opposed to the hosting team. This meant that the 54:40 score (30th min) scored by Boehme, was quickly turned into 54:47 (32nd min) after a three-point-play by Mareike Miller.

RSV only managed two field baskets within eight minutes in the middle of the fourth quarter, so the game seemed to become a lot more dramatic than was comfortable. After another basket by Murakami the score showed 60:55 (37th min) which forced Zeltinger to take a second timeout within a few minutes. This seemed to have done the trick, and a 9:1-run by Paye, Boehme, Luszynski and finally Haefeli secured the win.
Lahn-Dill: Piotr Luszynski (26), Thomas Böhme (21), Michael Paye (12), Dirk Köhler (4), Joe Bestwick (2), Nico Dreimüller (2), Philipp Häfeli (2), Annabel Breuer, Jan Haller, Björn Lohmann, Christopher Huber (n.e.).
Köln: Naohiro Murakami (19/3 Dreier), Jordan Bright (11), Mari Amimoto (10), Akira Toyoshima (9), Mareike Miller (6), Lars Bergenthal (2), Helen Freeman, Gabriel Kasapoglu, Jordan Luce, Jele van der Steen (n.e.).

RSV-Magazin Defense