88-93 in Hagen: Frankfurt win the fourth, lose the hustle war

Highlights

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Thirteen offensive rebounds to seven. Twelve steals to eight. Twenty-one assists to eighteen. Phoenix Hagen won every scrap at Krollmann Arena and still walked off 88-93 losers to Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt, undone by a fourth quarter that finished 22-28. The guests spent just 17:11 in front; Hagen led for 19:23.

Frankfurt set the early terms, 22-18 in the first period. Hagen flipped it in the second, 22-19, and the sides went to the break separated by a single point. The third was Hagen's sharpest stretch — 26 points, a run of 10 in a row, the lead stretched to six — and Hagen took a 66-65 edge into the fourth. Frankfurt answered with patience: a 7-0 burst, then a 28-22 quarter in which the visitors' advantage hit 10 for the first time.

The glass told the strangest story. Hagen finished 34-31 on the boards, doubling Frankfurt's offensive rebound count, yet the guests blocked four shots to zero and kept the second-chance damage to a minimum. Frankfurt also turned it over 20 times to Hagen's 16 — and still found enough baskets to survive.

Judah Mintz steered the win: 20 points on 56 percent shooting in 23:29, four assists and two steals. Radii Caisin added 19 on 67 percent with a game-best plus-11, and Till Pape chipped in 11. Trenton Gibson's 22 led all scorers on 50 percent; Patricio Garino added 11 with three assists and two steals. Bjarne Kraushaar's minus-15 was the worst number anyone wore all night.

Hagen out-rebounded, out-assisted and out-stealed the visitors. Frankfurt simply kept making shots — and that was the entire game.