Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt almost reached basketball perfection in the first half of its win against Mornar Bar. Everything seemed to go in for the German powerhouse from the very beginning of the game. It was not until Brady Heslip caught fire, however, that Skyliners started to put together a first half for the record books. Heslip buried 4 three-point shots in just 128 seconds for a 24-10 lead, which his teammates extended to 36-19 at the end of an outstanding first quarter. By the time Heslip hit 2 more shots from downtown, Skyliners had scored 9 of 11 two-point shots and 12 of 14 three-pointers. That is 54 points with just 25 field goal attempts, 2.16 points per shot!
Even though Skyliners cooled down a little bit in the final five minutes of the first half - scoring 6 more points until halftime, it led 63-39 at the break. Those 63 points are tied for the second-best mark in a first half in 7DAYS EuroCup history. Only Zadar with 66 points against Siauliai on January 12, 2010, had more points before halftime than the Skyliners did last night. The other teams that scored 63 points in the first half are Ural Great Perm (2002), DKV Joventut (2007), Dynamo Moscow (2008), Khimki Moscow Region (2014) and Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius (2016).
Skyliners were not able to repeat their fabulous first-half performance but finished the game with 98 points, a new club record that had lasted for almost 15 years. Skyliners scored 93 points in a win against Demon Astronauts on December 16, 2003. It also finished the game with 17 three-point shots, which is the best mark in the EuroCup so far this season.
Most important of all is that Skyliners are now 3-1, just like Unicaja Malaga and UNICS Kazan, and with a good chance to make it to the Top 16 in its EuroCup return after six seasons away. For a team that accumulated 26 consecutive losses in previous EuroCup appearances, it is quite a change. Coach Gordon Herbert is trying to keep everyone with their feet on the ground. "We still have six more games and a tough schedule. We still have to play against the best teams at home. We have to go one game at a game and try to get better one game at a time."