The Fraport Skyliners had planned a new start in sport, free from worries.

After a Bundesliga basketball season that ended in a fiasco with relegation.

Only with an expensive wildcard (700,000 euros) did the Frankfurt team remain in the premium class.

But at the end of the first half of the season, the Skyliners are back in the relegation battle.

George Daniels

Editor in the sports department

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The 97:93 on Sunday against the Hamburg Towers was only the fifth win in 17 games.

After all, the Frankfurters showed morale after a weak start and crowned their comeback in the second half with two important points.

The Skyliners' best pitchers were Joshua Obisie with 21 and Quantez Robertson and Laurynas Beliauskas with 14 points each.

Since Sunday, Robertson has been the most successful point collector in the club's history.

Best player in club history

With 4318 points, he overtook former captain Pascal Roller (4312).

"I didn't know at first, but my teammate J.J. Frazier told me," Robertson said afterwards.

"It's great to be here for so long."

The 38-year-old American, who started in the center position and played his part in the success against Hamburg in the second half with his energy and determination, is the best player the Skyliners have ever had in their ranks.

"That was his best game of the season," said coach Geert Hammink.

"It's incredible what Tez has done in the club's history."

The Frankfurters don't seem to have learned enough from their mistakes.

Your new coach Hammink has not yet managed to turn things around with new staff.

“We have fewer wins than we had hoped.

But we are of the opinion that we will get more wins in the second half of the season, ”said managing director Yannick Binas and relies on the principle of hope.

The duel with Hamburg went in the right direction.

For Marco Völler, the first half of the season was "disappointing, it could have been better," said the sports manager.

However, Hammink is not criticized by the Skyliners.

"We are convinced that we will go in the right direction," said Binas.

Despite the lack of time, the Hessians have not been successful in their search for a center.

"Finding a good center that brings us a significant leap in quality is not trivial," the managing director explained the delay.

Cold start of the Skyliners

Because the foreigner contingent is limited to six players, the Lithuanian Einaras Tubutis was not in the squad this time.

For him, Frazier was part of the squad, but was not in the starting lineup.

The American made a successful contribution in the end.

The Skyliners got a cold start in front of 4520 spectators on the floor: After a good six minutes they were already 9:20 behind.

Frankfurt scored and defended badly.

The team lacked the necessary intensity, Hamburg got many second chances and ended the first quarter with a 32:21 lead.

And it got even worse for the Skyliners, who didn't offer enough resistance: Hamburg pulled away to 38:21.

Despite a series of successful three-point shots, Frankfurt made little progress - at half-time the Hanseatic League was 54:40 ahead.

In the Hessians, who were also inferior in rebounds (17:23), no player had collected more than ten points.

In the third quarter, the Skyliners reduced the deficit to 66:72.

Also thanks to the extra energy of their new record man Robertson, who pulled his teammates along.

Hammink's crew was awake now.

With three and a half minutes to go, Joshua Obiesie gave her an 82-81 lead.

After goals from Beliauskas and Frazier it was 86:82.

The American also gets the following points to 90:84.

A three-point shot by Obiesie to make it 93:85 put the ball sports hall in the final party mood.

It hadn't looked like that for a long time.

All's well that ends well.