Basketball: BBC Bayreuth gets first away win of the season in Jena

Thanks to an outstanding performance in the third quarter, BBC Bayreuth won 85:68 at Medipolis SC Jena in the 2nd Basketball Bundesliga Pro A on Friday evening.

The game started evenly, both teams found good offensive solutions. BBC led 11:9 after five minutes. Shortly afterwards, Jena hit two threes in a row and the hosts were now 19:13 in front. Bayreuth had to fight a bit more to get free throws, but was strong on the offensive board. A three-point play by Esa Ahmad and a subsequent basket by Marco Rahn brought the BBC back to 20:22. However, Amir Hinton sank two more free throws and Jena led 24:20 after the first quarter.

Jena remained just ahead at the beginning of the second period. Bayreuth stumbled in the first and second quarter with their three-point quota, but proved to be a tough opponent. The BBC succeeded in taking away Jena's game flow somewhat. Five points in a row from Moritz Plescher finally put Bayreuth back in the lead with 29:27. Jena coach Björn Harmsen then got a technical foul, Selim Fofana increased the lead to 30:27 via free throw. The score was 34:32 for Bayreuth after 18 minutes. In the final phase of the second quarter, Jena was again in control, leading 37:35 at half-time. Esa Ahmad was the best Bayreuth scorer in the first half with 11 points.

The BBC started the second half in an outstanding and relaxed manner. After a 10:0 series within one minute and 46 seconds, it was suddenly 45:37 for Bayreuth, to the delight of the 150 fans who had come along. After Shane Gatling hit two free throws, the BBC had a double-digit lead for the first time with 49:39. Moritz Plescher followed with a three-pointer - 52:39 after just under 15 minutes. The score was 56:45 for the guests two minutes before the end of the quarter. Bayreuth kept the momentum on their side. Esa Ahmad's three-pointer increased the lead to 14 points at the end of the quarter. Bayreuth had turned the game around impressively and won the quarter 26:10.

Lenny Liedtke increased the lead to 64:47 with a three-pointer at the beginning of the final period. The score was 68:50 with six and a half minutes to go. The lead grew to 20 points after a basket by Shane Gatling. The game was now decided early for the guests after an extremely strong 15 minutes in the second half. 80:62 for Bayreuth was the score with two minutes to go. Björn Harmsen got his second technical foul, so the Jena coach had to leave the hall and assistant coach Lars Masell, former head coach of medi Bayreuth, had to take over. Esa Ahmad increased the lead to 85:63 with a three-pointer, followed by five more points from the hosts - the final score was 85:68 and the first away win for Bayreuth. On Sunday, the BBC, who have 6:4 points on their account after five games, will play in a double-header at the RÖMERSTROM Gladiators Trier.