2.BBL: No Happy Ending for Coburg in the Final Seconds

In a highly dramatic match, BBC Coburg suffered a bitter defeat in the playoff battle on Sunday afternoon. In front of 899 spectators at the HUK-COBURG arena, the Vestestädter narrowly lost to OrangeAcademy Ulm with a score of 84:85. Center Ben Diederichs had the chance to decide the game in favor of BBC with a hook shot in the last second, but his attempt missed the target. Despite the narrow defeat, BBC head coach Patrick Seidel saw many positive aspects in his team, especially in the second half.

In a thrilling encounter over the entire 40 minutes, it was Coburg who offensively got into the game mainly from the free-throw line in the early stages. On the opposite side, Niko Jerkic, who quickly hit three three-pointers, found his touch from outside early on. As a result, it was Ulm who, despite missing two of their top scorers, gradually took control from the middle of the first quarter. Thanks to a buzzer-beater by Oliver Kullamäe, the Swabians went into the quarter break with a 6-point lead. The same pattern repeated in the next ten minutes. While Ulm managed to extend the lead to nine or ten points at times, BBC repeatedly worked their way back to the guests. Thus, the halftime score was 40:46. Even after the halftime speeches by both coaches, OrangeAcademy initially maintained a narrow lead. Although Coburg defensively stepped up and forced Ulm into difficult shots, Patrick Seidel's team still couldn't equalize or take the lead offensively. BBC came within two points several times, before Kullamäe again scored five quick points at the end of the quarter to make it 54:61 from the Vestestädter's perspective. In the final quarter, however, it was Coburg's sharpshooters who managed to break the constant trailing. Five minutes before the end, Höllerl, who played strongly that afternoon, equalized (68:68). The game then developed into a shootout. BBC took the lead, but the guests always had the right answer. In crunch time, it was Ulm's Jordan Müller who brought his team in front with three difficult layups in a row one minute before the end (80:84). Tobias Rotegaard reduced the score to 84:85 from the free-throw line twelve seconds before the end. And BBC actually got another chance to win. After the subsequent Ulm timeout, the guests threw the ball away again under the pressure of Coburg's defense. In the ensuing fast break, the ball landed with BBC center Ben Diederichs under the basket, who had a rough day and missed the hook shot at the buzzer to the disappointment of Coburg fans.

In the remaining two games of the regular season, BBC Coburg needs further successes to make it to the playoffs. Against last year's runner-up from Cologne, Coburg wants to take the first step in the last home game of the season on April 5th. Jump is at 19:00.