Basketball: Heavy setback for the BBC at RASTA Vechta II

Setback for BBC Bayreuth in the battle for a playoff spot after its two recent home wins: The players of Head Coach Mladen Drijencic suffered a clear 77:107 defeat at the hands of RASTA Vechta's farm team in the BARMER 2nd German Basketball League Pro A today.

The BBC faced the penultimate-placed team in the table in Vechta with a short rotation of nine players. Bayreuth started with Selim Fofana, Esa Ahmad, team captain Aaron Carver, Lenny Liedtke and Besnik Bekteshi.

The RASTA farm team began with a 5:0 lead before Selim Fofana scored Bayreuth's first point with a free throw. However, this was followed by a four-point play for the home side by Luc van Slooten - 9:1 for Vechta. Aaron Carver then made Bayreuth's first bucket from the floor on the fast break to make it 3:9. Vechta then stretched the gap to 14:3 and the BBC's Head Coach Mladen Drijencic called his first timeout in view of the false start. The home side was 19:8 ahead after six minutes and shortly afterwards Vechta was already 23:8 in front - a lead of 15 points. The home side extended its lead to 32:16 by the end of the opening quarter. RASTA's offense made the BBC work up a sweat, while Bayreuth also conceded too many turnovers.

Esa Ahmad, Besnik Bekteshi and Aaron Carver sparked a 6:0 run by Bayreuth at the start of the second quarter. That cut the deficit to 22:32 and so to ten points. Vechta had already racked up five fouls after just over three minutes. However, the home side was not deterred and pulled 39:25 ahead again. With RASTA II 41:27 in front after 15 minutes, Mladen Drijencic called another timeout. Nevertheless, the club from Lower Saxony stretched its lead to 49:27. That was followed by another 6:0 run by Bayreuth. Nevertheless, the BBC ultimately trailed by a clear 35:54 at half-time. Vechta had made eight threes in the first half, twice as many as Bayreuth.

After a three and a free throw by Selim Fofana, the BBC closed the gap to 41:56. However, Luc van Slooten responded immediately with a three for RASTA II to make it 59:41. Bayreuth had already committed five fouls after around three-and-a-half minutes in the third period. The BBC continued to look uninspired and lacking in ideas and was not able to reduce the deficit significantly. Vechta led by 72:49 after just under 26 minutes and Bayreuth was at least able to close the gap slightly to 54:72, but Vechta responded again immediately with a three by Kevin Smit. The only bright spot for the BBC was top scorer Shane Gatling. Vechta led 83:64 going into the final quarter, in which Bayreuth already had virtually no hope of winning.

RASTA II showed a clear reaction to its recent defeats and led 89:64 with seven minutes to go and so by 25 points. Vechta led 97:66 after 35 minutes in front of around 650 spectators. Kaya Bayram made it three points with a three to make it 101:67. Pretty much everything that could go wrong went wrong for Bayreuth. In the end, the BBC suffered a hefty 77:107 defeat at the hands of Vechta's farm team. After 22 games, the BBC now has eleven wins and eleven defeats to its name.

The BBC's next game is at home against PS Karlsruhe LIONS on Sunday, February 18. Tip-off is at 5 pm.