For the last home game in 2025, the Tigers Tübingen will host the Artland Dragons for the Christmas game. The Lower Saxony team is one of the positive surprises of the 2025/2026 season in the BARMER 2nd Basketball Bundesliga. Thanks to a wild card, the team of coach Hendrik Gruhn, who will continue to work as a trainer at RASTA Vechta II until the summer, is still in the league after the sporting relegation in the last round of 2024/2025. Hochball is on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. in the Paul Horn Arena. Tickets are available in the online shop and at the box office on match day from 6:15 p.m. By Sunday morning, 2,200 tickets had been sold for the encounter against the Dragons from Artland. The ticket allows you to use public transport before and after the game. The times can be viewed here. As always, the game will be broadcast live and exclusively on sporteurope.tv for a fee. The commentators Marius Dieterle and Benedict Hottner go on air at 7:15 p.m. A notice: There are no parking fees of three euros charged at the festival site on Tuesday.
Second best offense, second best team from distance
Nine wins from 13 games – that is the sporting record of the Artland Dragons, which currently means fifth place in the table. Five successes were achieved from the last six encounters. With 93.9 points scored per game, the guests have the best offense in the league after league leader Phoenix Hagen (99.5 ppg). They are also number two in the league behind the Firebirds (41.8 percent) in distance throws; exactly 38 percent of all attempts go through the opponent’s net. “We face a very strong opponent in which, above all, our defense has to work. The performance in Bayreuth was very positive in this respect, we have to build on this. Individually, the Artland Dragons have a lot of good players,” says Troy Culley, assistant coach of the Tigers Tübingen, about the Swabians’ upcoming opponent. In terms of personnel, the big cats will still have to do without Isaiah Sanders (knee), JaCobi Wood (foot), Till Jönke (back) and Joshua Schwaibold (ankle).
A lot has happened in the summer between Quakenbrück, where the Artland Dragons are based, and Vechta. The cooperation was further expanded beyond the youth sector. Gruhn took over the Artland Dragons as coach in the summer and took Linus Ruf (7.6 ppg) and Linus Trettin (2.0 ppg) with him. The two youngsters should get a lot of playing time in the German basketball lower house in Quakenbrück, 28 kilometers away from Vechta. Overall, the squad was completely overhauled. Former player and current sports director Brandon Thomas is responsible for the new team, which has had good success so far.
Two absolute top players and two returnees
With Amir Hinton (VET-CONCEPT Gladiators Trier) and rookie Benjamin Burnham (Virginia Tech University (NCAA/USA)), Thomas achieved two absolute strokes of luck. Burnham in particular is particularly impressive in his first position as a professional. With 18.6 points and 9.5 rebounds so far, the 23-year-old is one of the best players in the second division. When it comes to efficiency, Burnham is number one in the league with a value of 25.3. The American also hits a strong 46.3 percent of all throws from a distance. With Hinton, the Artland Dragons have a player who has enormous offensive quality and athleticism. With 20.1 points, the 28-year-old is the top scorer in the entire BARMER 2nd Basketball Bundesliga. The overall package is rounded out with 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Hinton is particularly confident from the line. 71 of 74 free throws (95.9 percent) went through the opponent’s net. Connor Anthony is responsible for game design. The captain is playing a good game with 9.0 points, 6.7 assists and 2.8 rebounds.
For Timo Lanmüller, it is the first return to his old effectiveness, where the 24-year-old hunted for baskets until the summer of 2024. With the Artland Dragons, the Austrian international wants to recommend himself again for the easyCredit BBL at RASTA Vechta from the next round of 2026/2027. Lanmüller has been getting enough playing time so far, the defensive specialist has so far contributed 7.0 points for Lower Saxony. There will be another reunion with veteran Robert Oehle (3.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg), who was active in Tübingen between 2012 and 2014. At 37, he is the oldest player in the squad. Lower Saxony’s fourth import player is Nathan Petrone (9.1 ppg).
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