FIBA Europe Cup: HEROES OF TOMORROW advance to the next round

medi Bayreuth clinched its spot in the second group phase with a clear win on the 5th matchday of the FIBA Europe Cup. On Wednesday evening, the team of Head Coach Raoul Korner defeated the Kosovan champions Sigal Prishtina on the road by the commanding margin of 93:68 (41:36) in front of 30 Bayreuth fans who had made the journey.

The home side, who was without its top scorer Dardan Berisha, proved to be a strong opponent for three periods. However, medi’s unity as a team was also reflected on the scoreboard in the final quarter, with the result that the HEROES OF TOMORROW romped to victory by a deservedly wide margin and so were able to celebrate qualifying for the next round of the FIBA Europe Cup.

The fact that Prishtina’s top scorer Dardan Berisha was suspended naturally gave the HEROES OF TOMORROW a bit of an advantage. Nonetheless, the team of Head Coach Raoul Korner got off to a strong, focused start and was well-prepared for this do-or-die game. medi’s tall players repeatedly attacked the home side’s bucket in the opening spell and so kept Prishtina’s best rebounder, Fahro Alihodzic, busy almost all the time. After a strong first period, medi Bayreuth was ten points in front (23:13). However, Sigal Prishtina showed flashes of its strength at home at the start of the second period. In the space of less than two minutes, Jonathan Wade cut the deficit almost single-handedly (22:23 in the 22nd minute). Yet the HEROES OF TOMORROW struck back with their own run to pull 29:22 ahead. However, Prishtina stayed in contention and it was only a bucket from downtown by Lukas Meisner on the buzzer than gave the visitors a five-point lead at the break.

In the third period, too, it was only a spurt at the end that gave medi Bayreuth a clearer lead once more. With the score standing at 48:54 in the 27th minute, the club from Kosovo went almost three minutes without adding a point, allowing media to surge 48:61 in front. Unlike his counterpart, Raoul Korner used his bench throughout the encounter. That tactic reaped rewards in the fourth period, as the visitors opened up a decisive 72:51 gap by the 33rd minute. The HEROES OF TOMORROW won the rebounding duel by the clear margin of 49:30 and had also notched up better shooting percentages by the end. The home side only had a slight advantage when it came to three-pointers, draining nine of its 25 shots from beyond the arc compared to Bayreuth’s eight.

Raoul Korner commented: “By and large, we produced a sound performance and the result is fully deserved. We had a brief weak spell in the second period, but at the end of the day the even caliber of our squad proved crucial. We didn’t suffer any loss in quality when we made substitutions, and that wasn’t the case for Prishtina. Its key players had to remain on court just about all the time and so we were able to tire them, which was a decisive factor in our clear victory. We’ve managed to achieve our intermediate goal of advancing to the next round. Of course, it feels great to have won this do-or-die game and I’m pleased the team showed the qualities needed for that. However, our focus is now back on the next tasks ahead of us.”

medi Bayreuth is in action again soon: It welcomes Telekom Baskets Bonn to the Oberfrankenhalle cauldron for an encounter on the 9th game day of the easyCredit German Basketball League this Sunday, November 24 (tip-off: 6 p.m.).

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