This external link is not available in presentation mode.

To the top
Menu

Bayreuth

medi Bayreuth advances to the semi-finals of the FIBA Europe Cup

Bayreuth, 03-11-2020

medi Bayreuth has reached the semi-finals of the FIBA Europe Cup. The team of Head Coach Raoul Korner defeated U-BT Cluj Napoca by 100:87 (46:48) in the second leg of the quarter-final encounter on Wednesday evening to qualify for the next round by 182:170 on aggregate. Due to the fact that the Bavarian government had imposed measures to contain the coronavirus, the game against the Romanian cup winners was played in an empty Oberfrankenhalle in Bayreuth.

The HEROES OF TOMORROW now face Pinar Karsiyaka, the competition’s top favorites, in the semi-finals. The Turkish club won its second leg against Kiev in commanding fashion to reach the last four along with Bakken Bears (DEN) and Bahçeşehir College (TUR).

The first half was a bit like the mirror image of the first leg. Whereas the Romanian club kept on finding a direct path to Bayreuth’s basket and so made easy points, the HEROES OF TOMORROW had to fight hard for every bucket. And when their shots did not really want to drop, the visitors pulled 22:15 in front in the 9th minute. Bryce Alford was able to get his side back into close contention with three free throws to make it 20:22 at the end of the first period.

The second quarter was then evenly poised. Neither team was able to open up a gap of more than three points and Bayreuth went in trailing by 46:48. The home side faced a far greater problem than the scoreline at half-time, since Seiferth, Travis and Linhart each had three fouls to their name.

Yet even the high foul count did not stop the HEROES OF TOMORROW at the start of the second half. After missing the game against Bayern due to illness, captain Bastian Doreth again called the shots. His bucket from downtown at the start of the second half put medi Bayreuth 49:48 ahead and sparked a run of 10 points without reply to make the score 56:48 in the 23rd minute. Raoul Korner’s team stretched its lead to 79:63 in the 29th minute and thanks to an outstanding third period (36:20) looked as good as certain winners going into the final quarter with an 82:68 advantage.

Yet the Romanian club also knew how to fight. It started the last ten minutes with a 7:0 run to get back into contention. Things became really tight again when Andreas Seiferth and then Reid Travis fouled out with five minutes to go. Darryl Peak drained two free throws for Cluj to cut the deficit to five points (82:87) with 3:29 minutes left. However, medi Bayreuth, or to be more precise Evan Bruinsma, fortunately had the perfect response. He struck back immediately with a three to make it 90:82 – that and his defensive rebound with 47 seconds remaining and medi leading 90:85 proved to be the two big plays that secured victory and a place in the semi-finals.

Raoul Korner, Head Coach of medi Bayreuth, commented: “I’m very happy and very proud of my team. After we got off to a really unlucky start to this competition, we found our rhythm thanks to the FIBA Europe Cup and are now deservedly one of the last four teams. Of course, we’re also a bit glum because we’d have loved to celebrate this historic moment for Bayreuth together with our fans. All it all, it was a magnificent team performance.”

medi Bayreuth now faces a game on the road at BG Göttingen in the easyCredit German Basketball League this Saturday (tip-off: 6 p.m.).

The league is naturally keeping a very close watch on the latest developments relating to the coronavirus. With an eye to the upcoming games, the league and clubs will meet on Thursday, March 12, to discuss the current situation, scenarios and options for the further course of the season, and the resultant consequences.