The Mannheim Bison and Hanau Panthers stayed unbeaten in the Division II race on Friday night, but by far from comfortable margins.

In Mannheim, Germany, the Bison needed overtime to turn back Black Forest Academy 45-40, while in Vaihingen, Germany, visiting Hanau outscored Patch 17-14 in the final eight minutes to claim a 60-57 victory.

Black Forest’s Ken Reed, who had 16 points and 15 rebounds, made a late basket to force overtime against Mannheim. But the Bison, who got 13 points and three key blocks by Reggie Jenkins and 12 points, 11 rebounds and four steals from Earl Lee, righted the ship in overtime to improve to 3-0 in Division II (7-2 overall).

The Bison are on the road next Friday and Saturday at AFNORTH and SHAPE, and, on paper at least, are solid bets to return unbeaten in conference play for a Feb. 11 showdown at Hanau.

Hanau, which recovered from a 21-16 third-quarter run by Patch, has a tougher road ahead than Mannheim. The Panthers, 4-0 in Division II, are scheduled to play at Vilseck (3-1) on Friday and Saturday.

In other games of note on Friday and Saturday:

Vilseck escapes in Bitburg: At Bitburg, Germany, the host Barons missed two free throws that would have tied the game at the end of regulation and allowed Vilseck to escape with a 48-46 Division II victory.

Jamaal Johnson led Vilseck with 18 points as the Falcons rallied from a 26-15 halftime deficit and improved their Division II record to 3-1 going into this weekend’s games against Hanau.

Lions shatter Lancers: At RAF Lakenheath, England, five-time defending European Division I champion Heidelberg outclassed Lakenheath twice to set up a Tuesday-night showdown in Heidelberg against unbeaten Kaiserslautern.

K-town was idle this weekend.

Tyreke Wesley scored 15 points in Friday night’s 48-7 40-point courtesy-rule triumph, and T.C. Blanks connected for 21 on Saturday as the Lions won 76-45 and improved to 8-2.

Brussels moves into III-North tie: At High Wycombe, England, Jacob Williams struck for 20 points and nine rebounds to lead visiting Brussels to a 50-41 victory over London Central.

Brussels improved to 4-5 overall and 2-2 in league play, with only home games against Alconbury remaining on its league schedule.

London Central is 3-1 in III-North with games at Menwith Hill as the only III-North games remaining on its schedule.

Both teams play nonconference games next. Brussels is to host Baumholder of III-South on Friday and Saturday; London Central plays Rota on Saturday at Alconbury.

Cougars, Barons stay perfect in III-South: At Hohenfels, Germany, Ansbach and Bamberg each kept their III-South records intact by claiming victories over the homestanding Tigers.

All-Europe star Russell Bailey scored 31 points in Ansbach’s 64-49 victory on Friday that boosted the Cougars to 6-2 overall and 5-0 in III-South.

On Saturday, Bamberg visited Hohenfels and came away with a 55-48 victory that left the Barons (2-6) 2-0 in league play. Miguel Lozada scored 12 points and snared 12 rebounds to lead Bamberg.

Bamberg has road games at Giessen this weekend before hosting Baumholder on Feb. 11 and 12. It closes the regular season with home-and-home games against Ansbach.

Next up for Ansbach is a league game against visiting Hohenfels on Friday night. The Cougars then face D-II foes on Saturday and Feb. 11-12.

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