GER - Berlin back on top of BBL

BERLIN (BBL) - The see-saw battle at the top of the German BBL continued this weekend as defeat for EnBW Ludwigsburg allowed Alba Berlin to return to the top of the standings.

Kevin Melson had 23 points and Rasko Katic registered a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead Walter Tigers Tubingen to an 86-82 victory at Ludwigsburg.

In the dying seconds, Melson made a free throw for an 84-82 advantage, before Jerry Green missed a three-point attempt for the hosts.

Ray Nixon then sealed the win with two final foul shots for Tubingen, who improved to 10-11.

"We were able to get back into the game with desire and energy and went ahead. We prepared very well for this game but the players' heads weren't quick enough," said Ludwigsburg coach Silvano Poropat.

Michel Ferreira do Nascimento led Ludwigsburg with 22 points off the bench while Nate Harris had 15 points.

The loss drops Ludwigsburg's record to 17-5.

Alba Berlin moved above their nearest challengers with a 103-70 thrashing of bottom team Karlsruhe, who lost their 17th straight game.

Berlin led 33-17 after the opening period and never looked back as Chris Owens' 17 points led five Berlin players in double figures.

"Right from the start we had the necessary aggressiveness to shape the game how we wanted to," said Berlin coach Henrik Rodl.

"Now we have a difficult finish to the season. And we're going to start concentrating on our next game against Koln," added Rodl, whose team play at defending
champions RheinEnergie Koln next weekend in a repeat of last season's finals series.

Sasa Obradovic's Koln squad suffered a major setback though, losing at home 85-70 against EWE Baskets Oldenburg to drop to 16-6.

Demond Mallet scored 18 points, but had four of Koln's 17 turnovers compared to just 10 for Oldenburg.

D'Or Fischer and Dan Grunfield combined for 45 points and 14 rebounds for Oldenburg, who are now 12-10.

Telekom Baskets Bonn missed a chance to pull even with Koln in the win column as Nick Jacobsen drained a three-pointer in the final seconds to give Eisbaren Bremerhaven a 65-64 road victory.

Bonn - led by Jason Conley's 18 points - fell to 15-8 in fourth place while Richard Guinn's 18 points helped Bremerhaven jump to 13-8 in fifth place.

Artland Dragons dropped to 13-9 with a 78-68 loss at New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig, who went to 10-12.

Vujadin Subotic had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Braunschweig and Tommy Smith collected 18 points, eight rebounds and two steals in a losing cause.

The 2005 BBL champions Brose Baskets Bamberg collected an easy 81-61 home victory against TBB Trier to move to 12-8 with two games in hand.

Casey Jacobsen and Sean Dockery each had 18 points and Chris Ensminger (13 points and 12 rebounds) and Darren Fenn (12 and 10) collected double-doubles for Bamberg.

Brandon Gay and James Gillingham scored 14 points apiece for Trier.

Deutsche Bank Skyliners remain in the final play-off spot despite an 88-75 loss at sellbytel Baskets Nurnberg, who improved to 5-18 but are still in a relegation spot.

Steven Esterkamp's 17 points helped Paderborn beat ratiopharm Ulm 96-67 in a battle of the two promoted teams.

And Brandon Woustra scored 22 points as Bayer Giants Leverkusen improved to 10-12 with an 85-77 victory over Giessen 46ers, who fell to 5-17 - just a half-game from the relegation zone.

David Hein
FIBA