Chris Williams led all scorers with 28 points, but the last six points of the game proved to be most vital since it led the team to victory. "Chris is really important. He does so many important things for the team and our system relies on him.We have to support him as best as we can", said Finnish forward Jukka Matinen.
The OPEL SKYLINERS were down by six points near the end, but it was Alabama native Chris Williams that played the role of Superman and tied the game at 85-85 and then put Frankfurt ahead 87-85 with three seconds remaining. Most people thought that was the icing on the cake but it wasn´t since Würzburg`s sensational Guard Jeremy Veal scored, locking the game at 87-87. Most would have thought that an overtime period would come next, but the duo of captain Pascal Roller and Chris Williams unbelievably won the game in the last 2 seconds.
However, this might never have happened if an overzealous fan of Würzburg had not thrown a paper cup at the head of referee Uwe Prause. The game was momentarily stopped but soon restarted with two seconds remaining on the clock. This enabled Frankfurt to have one last ball possession and secure the win. The OPEL SKYLINERS showed a lot of strengh under pressure coming back to win this game. "We never think about the last seconds when we are down. We block everything out and focus on what we can do for the situation. After the game, we think more about what was going on in the situation. We play for the moment", said a happy Jukka Matinen. "We played tough defense in the last minutes and it was nice to come back by six points and win.We believed we could win this game", said a confident Malick Badiane.
Frankfurt´s team scoring was very balanced. Besides the 28 points by Chris Williams, captain Pascal Roller added 15 points and pulled down an unbelievable nine rebounds. Center Malick Badiane is looking better and better after his injury and contributed 13 points. "I´m very happy about my performance. They double-teamed Chris Williams a lot, so I received the ball a lot inside. I can´t get the ball by myself. The team needs to pass me the ball", said a very content Malick Badiane. Kavossy Franklin had his highest point game as an OPEL SKYLINERS player, scoring 10 points.
TSK Würzburg may be near the bottom of the standings, but they can give any opponent a competitive game.They were led by Singaras Tribe who scored 22 points. "He was on fire and we couldn´t stop him. However, I think he was a bit lucky, because he won´t always play like that", said Center Malick Badiane. Jeremy Veal had his usual strong game, adding 21 points and Igor Perovic chipped in with 18 points. "Würzburg plays up and down and has very good three point shooters. They were very dangerous and we were simply lucky that we won today, but it was a gift for Murat Didin", said Jukka Matinen.
The OPEL SKYLINERS now have eight days to prepare for their next opponent Walter Tigers Tübingen. Frankfurt shows signs of brilliance in some games like against ALBA Berlin, but then again displays poor performances against Bamberg. "We have many young players and a new system. We sometimes play up and down, but our play is always getting better and we are going in the right direction", said Jukka Matinen. Tübingen is near the bottom, but any team can beat anyone in the BBL. "It is near the end of the season. We want to be #1. We have to win every game. It will be tough but I think we can win that game", said a confident Malick Badiane. The OPEL SKYLINERS meet Walter Tigers Tübingen on Easter Monday in the Ballsporthalle at 15:00. Each game gets more important as the final playoff positions are determined and the OPEL SKYLINERS want the homecourt advantage. Any position lower than #4 will not make the playoff experience any easier for the defending champions.
Miles Schmidt-Scheuber reporting for the OPEL SKYLINERS
