Heroes Of Tomorrow win against BG Göttingen

After the strenuous games in the cup qualifiers and Champions League, the Heroes Of Tomorrow initially found it difficult to get in the encounter against a rested Göttingen side. Slips in concentration meant they conceded four turnovers in the opening five minutes to trail 6:11. The club from Lower Saxony also had an advantage in rebounding and from the three-point line. The visitors, who played as if unleashed and were also able to field their top scorer Brion Rush, who had missed the game between the two earlier in the season, continued to bury their shots, forcing Bayreuth to call its first timeout with the score at 8:17 in the eighth minute. The highlight of the period was definitely a block by Gabe York against Brion Rush, which was able to prevent two points, but not the 13:22 deficit after ten minutes.

In the second period, Bayreuth then drained its first buckets from downtown through Robin Amaize and Bastian Doreth, helping it quickly close the gap to 21:28. However, its greater intensity also took its toll: medi conceded its fifth team foul after just three-and-a-half minutes. Nevertheless, the Heroes Of Tomorrow managed to creep closer. The strong Andreas Seiferth made his mark in a run of 9 points without reply in the final two minutes before half-time that cut the deficit to 9:0. He himself drained two buckets and set up Gabe York for a three-point play.

After the break, the Heroes Of Tomorrow absorbed Göttingen’s fast play in attack, but repeatedly missed good opportunities itself. Both teams stopped the other’s moves with fouls, disrupting the flow of play. medi got its nose ahead, but then Göttingen turned the game around again. Yet when Stephan Haukohl made it 54:50 in the 27th minute, it would be the last time the visitors were to lead. medi went back in front with Linhart’s four free points in a row and held on to a 59:58 lead going into the final period.

Göttingen soon had to contend with the threat of players fouling out in the fourth quarter. Dominik Lockhart and Brion Rush each conceded their fourth foul and so that meant more space for the opposing side. And the Heroes Of Tomorrow capitalized on that, draining five buckets from outside by the 35th minute to surge 74:64 ahead. Yet the Violets did not give up. After a timeout, the visitors produced a quick 5:0 run to get back within striking distance and suddenly smelled a chance of pulling off a shock win. Even the three-point play by Nate Linhart to make it 82:77 with 55 seconds remaining did not seal the encounter, as Göttingen’s Rush drained his sixth three to close the gap to 83:86 with five seconds left on the clock. Rush even had the chance to tie the scores after a steal by Michael Stockton, but missed what was his 17th attempt from beyond the arc.

The Heroes Of Tomorrow thus chalked up their 13th win of the season – and there was some special icing on the cake after the game: Their Austrian Head Coach Raoul Korner announced to the packed arena that he had extended his contract and will stay with the Heroes Of Tomorrow until the end of the 2019/2020 season.