In the third game within seven days we welcome the newcomers from Jena on the 10th matchday of the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga. Tomorrow, Sunday (December 14th, 4:30 p.m.), a groundbreaking duel between two teams with an even balance will take place in the Süwag Energie ARENA: Science City Jena is currently in 11th place in the table (4-4), we are just ahead of them in 8th place (5-5) after the defeat in Bonn. For us it is important to learn from the narrow defeats of the past few weeks and achieve our second home win in a row in front of a sold-out crowd.
Sepehr Tarrah (Assistenztrainer): “After the two away games, we’re looking forward to playing at home in front of our home crowd again. It’s the third game in 7 days – so it’s important to give it our all physically but also mentally, as the energy level will be crucial.”
The balance sheet speaks for us
After the away game in Bonn was again decided in one quarter – this time in the final section – we want to build on the positive experiences from the previous duels against Jena. In the all-time record we lead with 11:4 wins. The last encounter took place in the ProA, in the quarterfinals of the 2024 playoffs, which we won 78:64 in Game 4.
In the game against Bonn, the later “MVP” William Christmas was particularly impressive with 18 points, four rebounds and four steals. It remains to be seen whether our top scorer Jaedon Le Dee (18.5 points per game) will be fit to play again in the duel against Science City Jena. A ligament injury to his thumb recently prevented him from playing.
Players to Watch (SKYLINERS):
- Isaiah Swope (PG): 14,1 PPG | 4,1 APG
- William Christmas (SG): 12,4 PPG | 4,8 RPG
- Till Pape (PF): 11,5 PPG | 4,9 RPG
Jena’s top scorer is out injured
At Science City Jena, the focus is currently on one person: Center and top scorer Great Osobor (16.1 points per game) will be missing from Thuringia until the end of the season. The 22-year-old suffered a torn cruciate ligament and a meniscus injury during only his second international appearance for Spain – a bitter loss for head coach Björn Harmsen’s team.
The Jena team – just like us – were able to get one win from the last three games, namely with a buzzer beater against Trier. In the first game without Osobor, Science City lost clearly at home to ratiopharm ulm with 70:92. The top scorers in this game were Keith Braxton Jr. (19 points), Eric Washington (17) and Joe Wieskamp (11).
Players to Watch (Science City Jena):
- Eric Washington (PG): 15,9 PPG | 5,1 APG
- Joe Wieskamp (PF): 12,9 PPG | 8,0 RPG
- Keith Braxton Jr. (SG): 11,0 PPG | 5,3 RPG
Look at the table
The duel is trend-setting for both teams:
A win would stabilize us (currently 8th) further in the upper third of the table and inflict Jena (11th) with their third defeat in the fourth game.
SKYLINERS live bei DYN