RSV Lahn-Dill win sovereignly 83:53
Top-of-the-table team RSV Lahn-Dill won away 85:53 (22:9/43:23/63:40) after having to fight the odds getting there. But the team was not ruffled by the difficult circumstances of the journey and demonstrated why they are leading the league. Outstanding performances again by Joe Bestwick, Michael Paye and Piotr Luszynski.
The first journey in the new RSV-bus seemed to be a doomed one: a blocked bridge, an inner-city traffic jam of over an hour, and many, many detours meant a very late arrival only 15 minutes before the start of the game, having had to give up getting any closer than 500 metres away. Improperly parked cars blocked the last bit to the gym, a small bridge was not built for a normal travel bus, and when trying to get the bus out of an impossible position, a car got damaged.
The team had to take on the emergency plan. The players got changed in the bus, whilst already arrived RSV-fans took action and helped move the equipment into the gym on foot. Thanks to their efforts, the team made it into the gym on time, where technician Rene Dietsch was able to set up all of the chairs within the allowed waiting period.
The team’s confidence became obvious within the first seconds already. It seemed as if the arduous journey hadn’t affected them at all, when the score was 10:2 after only 4 minutes. “It was pretty amazing to see how quickly and easily the team put away the stressful journey and got focussed on the game. Respect!” said Head Coach Nicolai Zeltinger.
The team was leading 22:9, when centre Joe Bestwick came on court. The Briton scored 18 points within 10 minutes at a hit ratio of 85 per cent against his former club. Well assisted by his Captain Michael Paye, the 32-year-old didn’t give the 99ers defence a chance. The Captain himself got 11 points, eight rebounds and incredible 18 assists for his club. RSV Lahn-Dill generally had a very unerring day. The highest percentage was reached by Pole Piotr Luszynski with 91 per cent.
After changeover, the 99ers tried to hit back though. Best player for his team was Japanese Akira Toyoshima, who was able to score 18 points overall. He was assisted by Briton Helen Freeman, who got the half time score of 42:23 up to a 54:37 (28th min), before Toyoshima and Naohiro Murakami shortened the gap with a couple of threes to 63:46 (31st min).
In the last quarter, RSV got their defence back in order. Thomas Boehme and Piotr Luszynski raised the score, before centre Bestwick scored the 77:46 (36th min). “This was a very strong performance for us, a compliment to Chris Huber for his aggressive defence.” said Zeltinger after the game, relieved after all the trouble before the game.
After deciding to take the ferry back, the trip back across the Rhine did not take as long this time. “Our first trip in the new bus had literally everything you wish for and everything you dread in one trip. We hope that means we’re done now with things that can go wrong.” said RSV manager Andreas Joneck.
Köln: Akira Toyoshima (18), Helen Freeman (11), Naohiro Murakami (9/1 Dreier), Mari Amimoto (7), Jordan Luce (4), Lars Bergenthal (2), Mareike Miller (2), Gabriel Kasapoglu, Patrick Richter, Jelle van der Steen (n.e.).
Lahn-Dill: Joe Bestwick (22), Piotr Luszynski (20), Thomas Böhme (19), Michael Paye (11), Nico Dreimüller (7), Christopher Huber (4), Jan Haller (2), Annabel Breuer, Dirk Köhler, Philipp Häfeli (n.e.), Björn Lohmann (n.e.).