Photo: Ed Cornejo
The Regensburg Baskets were given a rude welcome to the 2nd Regional League Southeast with a 100-52 defeat at top promotion candidates TG Würzburg in Regensburg’s first game of the season.
Markus Höß’s young Regensburg team, which was promoted from the Oberliga to the fifth division in Germany, struggled to deal with the toughness of the new league. And they could not make up for their lack of height in the rebounding department.
“At the beginning it was a little tough because the guys, as expected, couldn’t handle the toughness which is totally different than in the league below,” said Höß.
Regensburg were led Johannes Wießnet and Peter Sohn, who both had 12 points. But Höß’s team simply had no answer for Würzburg’s low post combination of Maximilian Endres, who had 22 points, and former Princeton University product Alex Okafor, who collected 17 points.
Würzburg lead the standings of the North Group of the league with a 1-0 and the biggest point difference, leaving Regensburg in last place.
Regensburg started the game in fine fashion and led 13-10 after six minutes on the road. But Würzburg turned up their press and Regensburg committed a number of turnovers, leading to a 12-0 Würzburg spurt and a 22-13 lead.
The advantage was 26-15 after one quarter and Würzburg pushed the lead in the second quarter and led 52-27 at the break.
Regensburg were a more worthy opponent in the second half but never really threatened Würzburg in the second half. The lead was still 71-40 after three quarters and the guests scored only 12 points in the fourth period.
“It was relatively clear from the beginning who would win if you looked at the guys. They were simply bigger than us, more athletic, taller and stronger,” said Höß, who described the difference between the Oberliga sixth division and the 2nd Regionalliga as “a world”.
“Of course they were an entirely different caliber. But it’s not that bad. I think it’s good that the guys fought until the end and the mood after the game wasn’t that bad,” said Höß.
The coach said the final margin was bigger than it should have been, saying a 20-point loss would have been more appropriate for how the game went.
But Höß was happy that his young team faced what he believes is the top contender for the title and promotion.
“I think that was good for us. We got a big boom – this is how it is. That’s where we want to get to. We will not be facing a better team than that this season,” said Höß.
Regensburg’s next game is October 8 at BiG Oettinger Rockets Gotha.