After long drought, Warriors don’t want to give up title

Wiesbaden center Joel Idowu goes up for a shot between Stuttgart defenders Maz Andrysiak, left, and Kurt Flores during the Division I title game at the 2026 DODEA European basketball championships on Feb. 14, 2026, at Wiesbaden Sports and Fitness Center in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

WIESBADEN, Germany – Coaches harp about the importance of free throws all the time.

Wiesbaden coach David Brown had good reason after two regular-season meetings with Stuttgart. The Warriors missed 35 free throws combined in those contests, and both games ended up being close – including Wiesbaden’s only loss this season.

Wiesbaden showed just how much it learned that lesson when the top seed faced those same Panthers for the ultimate prize on Saturday evening at the Wiesbaden Sports and Fitness Center.

In the Division I title game at the 2026 DODEA European basketball championships, the Warriors went 19 of 28 from the charity stripe – including 16 of 19 in the first half – en route to a 52-27 victory.

Wiesbaden (16-1) had more points from the free-throw line than from open play (10) over the opening two quarters. And junior guard Tahj Reche went a perfect 7 of 7 himself and finished with 11 points.

“If you make free throws, we can still make all the same mistakes, and we’ll still win by 20,” Brown said. “I think it finally clicked, so they concentrated, they took their time and made their free throws.”

The Warriors defended their title a year after collecting their first European championship in a quarter of a century.

The feat was not lost on star center Joel Idowu, who finished with a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds.

“It feels good to complete the back to back,” he said. “It feels good to finish what we worked for, what we started.

“The mindset was just to stay together, dominate together and stay together as brothers.”

Wiesbaden guard Elijah Kidd fights with Stuttgart forward Zachary Cerda II for a rebound during the Division I title game at the 2026 DODEA European basketball championships on Feb. 14, 2026, at Wiesbaden Sports and Fitness Center in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Stuttgart guard Adrian Anglada Paz floats a shot over Wiesbaden sophomore Carter Edwards during the Division I title game at the 2026 DODEA European basketball championships on Feb. 14, 2026, at Wiesbaden Sports and Fitness Center in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Stuttgart forward Max Andrysiak passes the ball while on the floor as Wiesbaden junior Tahj Reche, right, dives for the ball during the Division I title game at the 2026 DODEA European basketball championships on Feb. 14, 2026, at Wiesbaden Sports and Fitness Center in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Wiesbaden freshman Alex Crockett drives against Stuttgart sophomore Shawn Lasica during the Division I title game at the 2026 DODEA European basketball championships on Feb. 14, 2026, in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Stuttgart center Noah Czarkowski shoots as Wiesbaden senior Elijah Kidd goes for a block during the Division I title game at the 2026 DODEA European basketball championships on Feb. 14, 2026, in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

Some, like senior Elijah Kidd, got their first taste of a title.

The guard transferred from Camp Humphreys in South Korea, and the programs couldn’t have been more different. He went from a program that struggled to put anything in the win column to a team that barely lost.

“It means the world to me,” Kidd said of winning the championship. “Coming from Humphreys, we damn near came – sorry for cussing – last place two years in a row.

“This is what I came here for. This was my mission.”

The Warriors led Saturday from start to finish, slowly building leads first to 10 and then toward 20 or more by the end of the third quarter.

The Panthers (15-4) struggled to get anything going offensively and never made a run to close the increasing gap. Coach Chris Jackson credited the Wiesbaden defense partially for clamping down, but he also said his guys just missed shots they normally make.

“I tried to tell them that basketball’s like life: Sometimes the ball doesn’t go in, and we just couldn’t make a shot today,” Jackson said. “Kudos to Wiesbaden, they were the better team.”

Jackson said his program is ahead of the curve in its rebuild after losing everyone from Stuttgart’s back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. He said he anticipates being back in the final in 2027.

Brown, meanwhile, isn’t thinking about the future. Instead, he’s looking forward to taking a break.

“This was a long year,” he said. “I’m tired.”