Cologne
Heavily Depleted Coburg Ultimately Without a Chance
On the 8th matchday of the ProB South, BBC Coburg had to concede defeat to RheinStars Cologne with a score of 89:63. The Vestestädter, who traveled to the Rhine metropolis with only eight players, kept up well with the league leaders for most of the first half but had to pay the price for their thinned-out squad after the break. The best Coburg scorer was big man Ben Diederichs with 17 points.
Unlike previous Coburg performances, the eight remaining protégés of Patrick Seidel started the game well. With high intensity and the mindset that they had nothing to lose against the overwhelming favorites, the Vestestädter managed to build a 9-point lead midway through the first quarter. After some initial difficulties, the RheinStars also found their rhythm. However, the Coburg team, who had to do without their top scorer Zach Hinton in addition to the injured Nico Wenzl and Tim Herzog, remained persistent and focused, winning the first ten minutes. The BBC also kept the game open and on equal terms for long stretches of the second quarter. It was only after a timeout towards the end of the first half that the Vestestädter had to endure an 8-0 run by the hosts, resulting in a 45:35 deficit at halftime. After the break, the pattern from the last two minutes of the second quarter continued. Coburg could no longer keep up with the pace of the RheinStars and repeatedly gave away the ball too easily. Led by American Malik Riddle, who became the top scorer of the game with 25 points, the league leaders pulled further and further away, so that the Cologne lead was already 20 points after 30 minutes. In the final quarter, the RheinStars left nothing to chance and handed Coburg their fifth defeat in the eighth game of the season.
The now one-week break comes at a fitting time for the weakened BBC. However, the opponents from Coburg's perspective do not get any easier. On December 1st, the Vestestädter will face the reigning champions, the Dragons Rhöndorf.