The Tigers Tübingen lost the Christmas game against the Artland Dragons in the Paul Horn Arena with 97:105 (56:49) in front of the great crowd of 2,847 spectators. Coach Henrik Sonko’s team, with a weakened team, once again showed a good fighting performance and gave the favorites a tough fight at eye level. The Swabians were in the front for a long time, after the third quarter with a score of 77:75. In the last ten minutes, coach Hendrik Gruhn’s team got on the road to victory, with the Lower Saxony team winning the final section with a score of 30:20. After 31 minutes, the Swabians were in the lead at 58:49, and the winner had the biggest lead in the final minute at 105:95. The rebounds also went to Lower Saxony with a score of 38:28. Tübingen’s good rate from a distance was positive: 17 hits in 31 attempts meant a good 52 percent. The Swabians also repeatedly had good actions under the baskets. Player of the day was Amir Hinton with a double double of 31 points and twelve rebounds for the Artland Dragons. The Sonko team had five players score double-digit points, led by Miles Tention with 19 points. Melkizedek Moreaux and Bernard Pelote followed with 18 points each, Kaya Bayram with a double double of 14 points and ten assists and Patrick Emilien with 13 points. With seven wins and seven defeats each, the Swabians are currently in ninth place in the table, while the Artland Dragons have moved up to third place in the table with ten wins from 14 games.
Commissioner: Michael Walter; Referee: Edris Naim, Marli Kasemi, Eva-Marie Bohn
Click here for the statistics!
Contemplative days are practically non-existent for the Tigers Tübingen and the other 17 opponents in the BARMER 2nd Basketball Bundesliga. The Swabians will play against the Eisbären Bremerhaven on Saturday, December 27th, 2025. Training sessions are also scheduled beforehand. Hochball is on the match day at 4 p.m. in the Bremerhaven town hall. The Sonko troop heads north early on Boxing Day. On Tuesday, the Seestädter lost 67:92 to the Bozic Estriche Knights Kirchheim. With a 9:5 win, the Eisbären Bremerhaven are in fifth place in the ranking.
First quarter (24:25):
The game immediately picked up speed. After two minutes, the scoreboard read 4:4. Tention committed the first foul against Hinton, the top scorer in the BARMER 2nd Basketball Bundesliga, who scored the guests’ first lead to 6:4 after 138 seconds from the free throw line. With a 9-0 run, Lower Saxony was ahead 11-4 in the fourth minute before Moreaux was able to stop the run with two points to make it 6:11. The Gruhn troops took over the scepter early on and completed the attacks with high percentages. The big cats still held up well against it. After five minutes the deficit was four points at 12:16. Shortly beforehand, Bayram netted his second three-pointer. Hinton had found his rhythm early and made it 21:12 with a three-pointer – Coach Sonko had to take the first timeout with 4:12 minutes on the clock. A two from Silas Oriane and a three from Connor Nelson, the Big Cats reduced the lead to 17:21 in the seventh minute. After another three-pointer from Tention to make it 20:23, Gruhn took the first break with exactly 2:22 minutes on the clock. The Swabians got into the encounter better and better. Moreaux made it 23:25 from distance exactly one minute before the end of the first quarter. A little later we went into the first short break with a narrow 24:25 deficit from Tübingen’s perspective.
Second quarter (32:24):
It continued to go up and down. After twelve minutes the Artland Dragons led 34:28. A three-pointer from Tention and a two-pointer from Moreaux – the Tigers Tübingen were back on the scoreboard in the 13th minute with the score at 33:34. With 6:59 minutes on the clock, Tention even took the lead back to the big cats with a three-pointer to make it 36:34. The spectators saw an offensive game. It was also the end of a 10-0 run by Sonko’s team. The home team continued to play well. Strong play from a distance and actions under the basket were positive. Pelote hit the next three-pointer with 5:28 on the clock for a 39-37 lead, Artland Dragons timeout. Emilien confirmed his upward trend and increased the lead to 43:39 after 16 minutes with a nice individual performance. The Tigers continued to play forward with confidence. Bayram made it 46:39 from distance a minute later. The spectators in the Paul Horn Arena were satisfied. However, the guests didn’t let themselves be shaken off and stuck with the Swabians. Two minutes before halftime, the scoreboard showed a 48:44 lead. A three-pointer from Nelson and a three-pointer from Tention made it 54:46 after 19 minutes. 18.4 seconds before halftime, Dejan Bruce committed an unsportsmanlike foul against Bayram, who converted both free throws to make it 56:49. It was probably the best quarter for the big cats in the current 2025/2026 season of the BARMER 2nd Basketball Bundesliga – and this without numerous top performers. Sonko also took his last break. With this score we went into the half-time break. The Tigers benefited from a strong rate from distance. Eleven hits in 18 attempts meant 61 percent.
Third quarter (21:26):
Moreaux opened the second round after 13 seconds with a floater to make it 58:49, in return the former Tübingen player Timo Lanmüller scored from a distance to make it 52:58. Benjamin Burnham scored five points in a row to make it 57:61 after 23 minutes. The spectators saw a good basketball game, both opponents gave each other nothing. Co-captain Tention continued to take responsibility and made two free throws in the opposing basket after 14 minutes to make the score 65:59. With 17 points, the American was currently the best points collector. The Swabians initially maintained their lead, after 25 minutes the score was 67:60. In defense there was a hard fight for every ball on both ends, and numerous offensive fouls were also recorded. Not many points were scored in this phase of the game. After 17 minutes, the Swabians were still narrowly ahead at 67:62. The big cats didn’t let up and continued to maintain their lead. Emilien scored with a two-pointer after 18 minutes to make it 69:64. The Canadian had reached nine points. Both opponents presented themselves on equal terms. 63 seconds before the end of the third quarter, Bayram made it 74:68 with a three-pointer; the 21-year-old had also already scored 14 points. With a three-pointer each from Pelote for Tübingen and Elijah Ndi, the third period ended with 77:75 from the Swabians’ perspective.
Fourth quarter (8:30 p.m.):
Pelote opened the final round with a three-pointer after 25 seconds to make it 80:75. The game remained extremely competitive and neither team was able to gain a decisive advantage. After 32 minutes, the Tigers led 82-80. There was no sign of Hinton at the Artland Dragons for a long time. With five points in a row, the American took the lead back to the guests at 83:82. Sonko took the next timeout with 7:14 minutes on the clock. By the 35th minute, the Lower Saxony team went on a 12-0 run to make it 87:82. Emilien ended the opponent’s run with two points to make it 84:87. The Swabians made a few mistakes in a short space of time, which the Lower Saxons punished mercilessly. After two more points from Linus Ruf to make it 89:84, Sonko called for the next timeout with 5:19 minutes on the clock. The Swabians absolutely stuck with it, Pelote shortened the score to 89:91 with a jumper, and Gruhn took the next break 63 seconds later. Now there was a hail of timeouts in a row. After a floater from Hinton to make it 96:91, it was Sonko again who asked his players to the bench for a chat. There were still 2:55 minutes to play. The Lower Saxons were now the better team, the Swabians were losing their strength with the small rotation. Hinton scored four more points to make it 98:91 after 38 minutes. The league’s top scorer had again reached 27 points. Ruf put the lid on 81 seconds with 100:91 for the Gruhn troops, who took another time out 66 seconds before the end. So again with 21.5 seconds remaining with the 102:95 lead. This was followed by another three-pointer from Hinton to make it 105:95, and Moreaux ended the encounter with two free throws to make it 97:105 from the host’s perspective.
The voices about the game:
Henrik Sonko (Trainer Tigers Tübingen): “Congratulations to Coach Hendrik Gruhn and the Artland Dragons on this victory. The key points for us in the end were technical and tactical mistakes that shouldn’t happen at this level of play. But of course their individual quality also hurt us. We tried to implement what we had trained, which we did well over long stretches of the game. But in total there were simply too many mistakes against a strong team. Nevertheless, I can say that with the performance of the team “The team can be happy with our current situation.”
Hendrik Gruhn (Artland Dragons coach): “I think in the end it was a deserved win because of the second half we played. It was a hard-fought win, I think our defense was simply better after the break after we were left behind in the first half. Tübingen of course made it difficult for us with eleven three-pointers and a crazy number, although we also gave them a lot of easy shots. We wanted to break that up, we were then able to improve the performance. In the end it was a great one Offensive performance from Amir Hinton, who hit difficult and important shots. However, we have to get better defensively and not always rely on our individual quality on offense.
Jungle whispers – a slightly different look at the game:
The home balance in 2025: The Tigers Tübingen played a total of 20 competitive games in the Paul Horn Arena in the 2025 calendar year. Eleven games (15,058 spectators) in the 2024/2025 season, with seven wins and four defeats. Eight matches (27,086) have been played so far in the current 2025/2026 round of the BARMER 2nd Basketball Bundesliga. The balance here is three successes and five defeats. There is also the game in the BBL Cup against the VET-CONCEPT Gladiators Trier, which coach Henrik Sonko’s team lost 67:87 on September 23, 2025 in front of 1,229 fans. In the 20 home games, a total of 42,144 fans attended the Swabians’ home game, which means an average of 2,107 spectators per game. Thank you very much for the support!
Minute of silence for Kurt Arndt: Before the game between the Tigers Tübingen and the Artland Dragons there was a minute’s silence for Kurt Arndt. The former basketball department head and first manager in Tübingen basketball died on November 21, 2025 at the age of 75 after a long, serious illness. The former Tübingen official followed the events of the Tigers Tübingen in the Paul Horn Arena until the very end. The SV 03 Tübingen and the Tigers Tübingen would like to thank Kurt Arndt for his great contributions to Tübingen basketball and wish his family a lot of strength and confidence during this difficult time! You can find more information about Kurt Arndt here!
ALPI fan trip to Crailsheim: The Neckar Tigers fan club e. V. and the fan group Massimo 03 are planning the ALPI fan trip to the away game in Crailsheim. Departure is on Saturday, January 3, 2026, at 12:30 p.m. from the Tübingen bus station, and you can board at the Paul Horn Arena at 12:45 p.m. For members, the trip and the entry ticket cost 43 euros, the reduced price is 40 euros. Non-members pay five euros more each. There will also be products from our beer partner Alpirsbacher on the trip. Registrations are accepted by email at tigers-away@mail.de. Register now and support the Tigers Tübingen team at the derby in Crailsheim!
