medi Bayreuth proves to be only a minor irritation for FC Bayern Munich

Without captain Bastian Doreth, who was forced to withdraw at short notice due to illness, medi Bayreuth suffered a home defeat at the hands of the reigning German champions on the 22nd game day of the easyCredit German Basketball League. In front of 3,400 spectators in the sold-out Oberfrankenhalle, the HEROES OF TOMORROW lost to FC Bayern Munich Basketball by 75:91 (35:48) on Sunday afternoon.

Head Coach Raoul Korner’s team put up a good fight against its opponents from the Bavarian capital and, after trailing by a clear margin at the break, almost caught up again by the end of the third period thanks to lots of passion, fighting spirit and wonderful team basketball. A sensation seemed possible for a brief time, but Bayern proved too clinical in the final quarter and so finally ran out deserved winners to take both points back to Munich.

The auspices for medi Bayreuth going into the battle with the title-holders could certainly have been better. Without captain Bastian Doreth, but with James Woodard back in action, the HEROES OF TOMORROW found it difficult to get into their stride. They lacked a little bite, and so Bayern was able to pull 11:2 ahead, mainly thanks to Vladimir Lucic.

It then seemed as if Bayern would be able to dominate the encounter and play it out comfortably with this lead behind it, and medi Bayreuth went in at half-time trailing by 35:48.

However, Bayern then got of sense of just what a cauldron the Oberfrankenhalle can be. Fired on by its fans, medi Bayreuth really turned on the heat and reduced the deficit point by point. The team of Raoul Korner played with great heart to claw its way back into contention and tied the scores at 60:60 by the end of the third period.

It now seemed that even victory was again possible for medi Bayreuth, but Bayern struck back impressively: A 3:18 run made it 63:78 in the 36th minute and sealed the encounter and Munich’s 19th win of the season.

In particular medi Bayreuth’s 3-point field goal percentage – just four out of 23 attempts – was simply too weak for it to ultimately pose a threat to the reigning champions.

Raoul Korner, Head Coach of medi Bayreuth, commented: “We fought our way back into the game, especially in the third period, with a strong, aggressive and almost heroic performance and were able to tie the scores at 60:60. The third period especially was the one I was a little worried about, since I feared FC Bayern would step up a gear as it did against Oldenburg. Unfortunately, with every call that goes against you, you lose more substance than you ought to. Munich exploited its physical superiority excellently below the basket and executed its game plan very well in this spell. At the end of the day, it deserved to win because of that. All the same, a big compliment to my team – we gave the best we could today. Now we’re fully focused on Wednesday’s game. I don’t exactly know whether everyone’s aware of just how historic the day might be, since a basketball team from Bayreuth has never been among the top four in any international European competition. That’s our mission on Wednesday and our mind is totally set on achieving it.”

In order to advance to the semi-finals of the FIBA Europe Cup, the HEROES OF TOMORROW need the vociferous support of their fans in the second leg of their quarter-final against the Romanian club U-BT Cluj-Napoca this Wednesday, March 11 (tip-off: 6:30 p.m.).