Basketball: Coburg secures playoff spot

With a clear home win against the Oberhaching Tropics, BBC Coburg secured their place in the playoffs of the BARMER 2. Basketball Bundesliga ProB. On Saturday evening, the team around captain Sven Lorber won clearly with 100:73 in the HUK-COBURG Arena.

In the first quarter, the home side took the lead and then did not relinquish it until the end. When Sven Lorber put the BBC in front with 11:9 in the sixth minute of the first quarter, he laid the foundation for the Coburg lead, which grew continuously in the following. Also in the first, Tropics coach Mario Matic conceded a technical foul. Bitter for Oberhaching, because the converted free throw after the technical was followed by three more Bulic goals from the free throw line. Coburg's center was fouled earlier on a three-point attempt. The first period ended at 25:16 for Coburg.

Even until the break, the Tropics were unable to keep Coburg's offense in check. After Oberhaching initially did damage control in the second quarter, the team caught two quick Coburg threes from Adrian Worthy and Jannis Sonnefeld before halftime. In total, the BBC sank 15 shots from long range on this evening with a solid 43 percent rate in the net. After the second period, the home team was already ahead 50:34.

The guests did not give up, however, and in the third quarter they once again stood up to the BBC. Above all, because they dominated the boards. After Benke grabbed the ball on the defensive end, Janosch Kögler served his colleague Fynn Fischer before the latter cut the lead to 48:63 from Haching's point of view. Bernhard Benke grabbed 15 of Oberhaching's 40 rebounds, while Coburg only managed 28. The Tropics, however, simply did not manage to capitalize on their superiority in winning the ball.

Kögler reduced the BBC lead to 13 points again shortly afterwards, but Tyreese Blunt answered in return with a three-pointer for Coburg. BBC point guard Joaquin Carrasco then scored twice within 13 seconds, in the meantime stealing the ball from Fynn Fischer and proving with this relay alone why he was the most effective player on the court. But also Tyreese Blunt, who still played with a protective mask after a broken nose, found back to his best form after the injury break. In addition to his 20 points, he also had five assists and three rebounds, and his free throw for 77:61 closed the third quarter.

At the end of a dominant performance, the Coburg team only had to accept a weak free throw rate of 68 percent in addition to the disadvantage in rebounds. BBC head coach Milos Petkovic nevertheless had every reason to be satisfied with his team's performance. "We were very concentrated and were able to implement what we have worked on in training. From there I am very satisfied, especially with our 27 assists. Also the 13 turnovers are very few compared to the last game," the coach said after the match.

In the remaining two games of the season, the BBC can secure the home right for the playoffs on its own. To do so, Coburg must defend its fourth place in the table. Next Saturday, the team will face the Kangaroos in Leitershofen, and in their last home game, they will welcome Ludwigsburg on Easter Saturday.