70:60 away win at the Rhinos from Wiesbaden without top scorer Böhme
In the catch-up game of the 17th matchday in the RBBL, Janet Zeltinger won the Canadian head coach duel against her compatriot Paul Bowes on the bench of the Rhine River Rhinos. Shortly without top scorer Thomas Böhme, RSV Lahn-Dill drove to a 70:60 victory (11:15/37:24/54:42) in Wiesbaden on Thursday night. The reigning Champions League winners from Wetzlar thus drew level in the standings with the reigning champions Thuringia Bulls, before the next Hesse derby against Frankfurt already awaits on Saturday evening in the home Buderus Arena.
Head coach Janet Zeltinger and her “co” Günther Mayer had to do without top scorer Thomas Böhme at short notice in Wiesbaden, who injured his back in the final training session on Wednesday evening. His teammate Hiroaki Kozai stepped into his shoes in the Hessian capital. The Japanese player directed brilliantly and in the end contributed 26 points, nine rebounds and six assists to the success. “Hiro made a great game,” Zeltinger was also pleased after 40 intense minutes, in which the Mittelhessen went to work with a lot of commitment and fire, but often did not really use this purposefully, as the Canadian aptly analyzed after the final siren.
Thus, the guest from Wetzlar was initially behind, after the RSV defense completely adjusted to national player Matthias Güntner and lost sight of his center colleague André Hopp a little.
But the 11:15 deficit after the first quarter did not last long, as Simon Brown & Co. set off real fireworks in the second quarter, which they won 26:9 in the end.
After the change of ends, the home side tried with all their might to turn the game around, but whenever the Rhinos came close, as they did at 39:34 (23rd) through Nicola Damiani, RSV Lahn-Dill countered ice-cold. At the latest at 58:42 (31.) by the offensively strong Brit Brown, the game was then decided in favor of the guests.
Now it is called for the Wetzlarer Rollis within 48 hours on the second Hessenderby to prepare, which rises on Saturday evening at 19:30 o’clock in the Buderus arena. Opponents will be the Skywheelers Frankfurt, who must win in Wetzlar on the 18th and last matchday to prevent the impending relegation to league two. Tickets for the game in Wetzlar are available online at www.ticketmaster.de or on game day from 6:00 p.m. at the box office.
Wiesbaden: Arinn Young (24), André Hopp (15), Matthias Güntner (10), Nicola Damiani (4), Louis Hardouin (3/1 threes), Gijs Even (2), Jim Palmer (2), Svenja Mayer, Chaysee Wolf.
Lahn-Dill: Hioaki Kozai (26/2), Brian Bell (15), Simon Brown (10), Reo Fujimoto (10), Quinten Zantinge (4), Dominik Mosler (3), Mark Beissert (2), Jannik Blair, Catharina Weiß, Peyman Mizan (n.e.).