Heidelberg
50 minutes of great fight: In the end there is no happy ending for medi after double OT.
Even after the 15th matchday in the easyCredit Basketball Bundesliga, medi bayreuth still must wait for its first away win of the season. The Bayreuth team has never come as close as it did in Sunday afternoon's game at MLP Academics Heidelberg, but in the end, it was defeated again 101-107 in double overtime in front of 3,783 spectators at the SNP Dome.
There was no cautious feeling out at the beginning of the game, but both teams went straight into medias res and so the opening points of the hosts were immediately followed by the answer of Osaro Rich, who scored the equalizer with a successful close-range shot. After that, it looked for a short time as if the Bayreuth team could take the reins and when Brandon Childress put the lead at 10:6 after five minutes, all fans were still in good spirits.
Right after the restart, the recovered captain Bastian Doreth took the initiative and sank a three-pointer. Since the team play was better now, medi managed to reduce the deficit to three points in the 13th minute of the game. However, Head Coach Joonas Iisalo's hosts were not impressed by this at all and within only two minutes the medi deficit was even in double figures for the first time.
As in the first two quarters, medi started the new period well and forced Heidelberg coach Iisalo to call a timeout with a 7:0 run within two minutes of play. But it seemed as if the Finn had found the right words in the short meeting, and so, as in the first two quarters, a run by the Heidelbergers followed again, who quickly made the Bayreuth deficit double-digits again.
Again, our team started the final period well, but unlike in the previous three quarters, medi players did not let up now during the quarter and with Brandon Childress now taking over as a scorer, they managed not only to take the lead in the 34th minute of the game, but even to pull away to 80:73. However, the Heidelbergers did not give up even in this situation and scored 8.2 seconds before the end of the game, through a three-pointer by Eric Washington, the 83:83 equalizer, which also lasted until the end of regulation.
Lars Masell (Head Coach medi bayreuth):
"Congratulations to Joonas and the Heidelberg team. It was a tough fight, 12 rounds, you would say in boxing. We had it in our hands in regulation time. Wanted to foul, but unfortunately didn't and then Washington hit the three-pointer."
And on it goes! Next Friday, January 20, the promoted team from the far north is the guest in the Oberfrankenhalle. Jump on the 16th game day against the Rostock Seawolves is at 8:30 pm. Tickets for the game are available HERE!