medi bayreuth defeats Bonn by 97:85 and chalks up the better aggregate score in the games between the two

The Heroes Of Tomorrow captured their fourth home victory in a row with a great team performance on the 22nd matchday of the easyCredit German Basketball League. The team of Head Coach Raoul Korner defeated Telekom Baskets Bonn, the club directly below them in fifth place in the table, commandingly by the margin of 97:85 on Wednesday evening.

medi began with great focus against its direct pursuer. Nate Linhart gave the Heroes Of Tomorrow the lead, which they then stretched to 11:5 thanks to Andreas Seiferth’s advantages in his duel with Julian Gamble. After the home side took a double-digit lead for the first time when De’Mon Brooks made two free throws (18:8), Josh Mayo brandished the visitors’ most dangerous weapon, scoring their first three. And they continued to claw their way back into the game with their shooting from downtown, with Tomislav Zubcic reducing the deficit to 19:22 with another bucket from beyond the arc. Bonn also trailed by three points at the end of the first period.

There was a veritable deluge of threes in the second quarter – from Wachalski, Curry, Wachalski, Zubcic and Klein – and after 14 minutes the scores were tied at 34:34. After draining its seventh three-pointer, Bonn looked set to turn the game on its head, but it was precisely then that medi bayreuth turned on the heat. After a steal by Bastian Doreth, the Heroes Of Tomorrow sparked a run of 14 points without reply to surge 48:34 in front in impressive fashion. However, Josh Mayo brought his side back into contention and, after a lay-up by the point guard at the end of the first half, the gap was just 43:50.

The second half began with Bayreuth at full pace again. A lay-up from Seiferth, a bucket from outside by Gabe York and points from De’Mon Brooks made it 57:43, forcing Head Coach Predrag Krunic to call his first timeout after barely two minutes of play in the third period. The encounter then became even classier than it had been in the first 20 minutes. Both teams added further threes, but there were also great assists, such as from Andreas Seiferth, who first set up Gabe York and then James Robinson in textbook fashion (62:51). After a bucket from downtown by Malcolm Hill on the previous attack, Steve Wachalski struck back with his own buzzer-beating three to make it 71:63 at the end of the quarter.

The game remained a joy to watch in the final ten minutes and Bonn kept within striking distance. The visitors repeatedly scored from outside and at one stage even had more buckets from beyond the arc than from inside it. However, they were not able to turn the game around, as the Heroes Of Tomorrow showed why they are in fourth place in the table. They commandingly sealed victory with great team play – and six of their players ended up with eleven or more points.