medi bayreuth loses at Brose Bamberg by 65:83

The dream of all Bayreuth basketball fans of winning the Upper Franconian derby against Bamberg will have to wait to come true. On the 29th matchday in the easyCredit German Basketball League, the Heroes Of Tomorrow came away empty-handed in the encounter against the German champions. In front of 6,150 spectators in the Brose Arena, medi bayreuth finally lost to its second-placed opponents by 65:83 (34:46).

Brief summary of the encounter:

The opening spell of the 74th Upper Franconian derby belonged to the Heroes Of Tomorrow, who went 5:2 ahead after a bucket from beyond the arc by Linhart in the 2nd minute and then 9:5 in front after points by Assem Marei in the 4th minute. Then Bamberg got into the game – and turned it around with a run of 10 points without reply. A three-point play by Leon Kratzer, who hails from Bayreuth, made it 15:9 in the 7th minute and the period ended with the score at 28:18.

Bamberg added five points at the start of the second period, but medi did not give up. Two threes by Robin Amaize and Nate Linhart closed the deficit to just 32:40 in the 18th minute, forcing the home side to call a timeout. Head Coach Andrea Trinchieri found the right words, as his team stepped up a gear again and went in at the break leading by 46:34.

Whereas the first 20 minutes were very entertaining, the encounter dropped off a little in the second half. Bamberg was clever in maintaining its lead and benefited from Bayreuth’s bad luck with its shots. The lead kept on growing and finally reached 19 points when Leon Radosevic made it 58:39 in the 26th minute. It was still 17 points at the end of the third period (67:50).

A bucket from downtown by Janis Strelnieks, who had recently returned from injury and was Bamberg’s top scorer in the game, gave his side its widest leading margin of the evening (75:54 in the 35th minute). Although the game was long since decided, the Heroes Of Tomorrow did not give up and reduced the gap again with two quick threes by Wachalski to make it 65:79 in the 38th minute.