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HEROES OF TOMORROW win fierce tussle at Hamburg Towers

Hamburg, 11-30-2019

In the end it was at times an excessively tough fight served up to the 3,400 spectators in the sold-out edel-optics.de Arena in the encounter between Hamburg Towers and medi Bayreuth. Nine offensive, five unsporting and four technical fouls and a disqualification were awarded before the HEROES OF TOMORROW eventually ran out winners on the road by 95:81 (41:41).

Nate Linhart (medi Bayreuth) commented: “It was a fiercely contested victory. Hamburg played with a lot of aggression, but we were able to put up stiff resistance. It was great to see that we had the energy, at least in the second half, we needed to decide the encounter in our favor.”

The HEROES OF TOMORROW started off with very little intensity, with the deserved upshot that they trailed 5:16 by the 7th minute. Yet initial rays of light could be glimpsed when Lukas Meisner and Bastian Doreth were brought on midway through the first period. medi’s defense was still often full of holes and allowed the opposing side to score easy points or snap up second chances to shoot. However, Bayreuth’s offense got into the game a little better, albeit very slowly, and so the two teams went in at half-time with the scores tied.

Were the HEROES OF TOMORROW on the receiving end of a few loud words in the dressing room? Possibly, since they displayed greater bite and got better into their stride after the break. In particular Bastian Doreth (12 points), Bryce Alford (19) and Lukas Meisner with a career-best 18 points came off the bench, scored repeatedly and gave their side a boost.

Yet the game, which had already been very physical in the first half, unfortunately became tougher and tougher from minute to minute, with actions that several times went beyond the pale. After Lukas Meisner, who was in gala form on the evening, drained a bucket from downtown to make it 79:63 and as good as seal victory for medi with 4:41 minutes remaining, the floodgates opened.

Towers committed a total of four unsporting and three technical fouls and also had new signing Michael Carrera disqualified after violent conduct against Nate Linhart right after the three by Lukas Meisner. And that is not counting the wounds in Evan Bruinsma’s face and the cut above the right eyebrow of James Robinson, for which he needed four stitches – all offenses that went unpunished by the referees.

In the end, it was not beautiful to watch or a truly convincing performance by medi Bayreuth in the final game of center Justin Raffington, whose contract expired with this encounter. Sometimes you have to fight your way to victory – and medi Bayreuth did that successfully to run out highly deserved winners.

Raoul Korner, Head Coach of medi Bayreuth, commented: “Congratulations to my players, who kept their composure in a heated atmosphere. We showed the quality we’re capable off for about ten minutes. However, we got off to a very poor start and were far too inconsistent. It was a real battle at the end. I completely understand it when you’re fighting against relegation, but it’s a narrow line and some players overstepped it today, so we can be happy nothing happened.”

After a long string of games in rapid succession, Head Coach Raoul Korner now has time for a full week of training with his HEROES OF TOMORROW before the next game for medi Bayreuth on Sunday, December 8, when the Albatrosses from Berlin visit the Oberfrankenhalle cauldron (tip-off: 3 p.m.).

www.medi-bayreuth.de