Oldenburg loses to end streak
EWE Baskets Oldenburg slipped at the last hurdle in their quest to enter next week’s Eurochallenge Final Four on the back of a huge winning streak. The German team has been in fine form of late and has won its last six games while also picking up 10 victories in the last 11. However, it all came crashing down last night as Oldenburg fell to a defeat 84-72 away at BBC Bayreuth in the BEKO Bundesliga.
The defeat leaves EWE Baskets Oldenburg with a 22-9 record that puts them in second place in the BBL standings. It also means that the club has lost any hope of toppling Brose Baskets Bamberg at the summit of the Bundesliga for the regular season. Brose are the reigning champions and will now successfully defend their title from last season despite also losing on Wednesday night in a close 74-73 defeat to the Artland Dragons.
Oldenburg can secure second place in the BBL by winning its last two games regardless of what third placed Ratiopharm Ulm does. Ulm also lost midweek to leave the top three the same as it was at the start of the week, and Ulm will need Oldenburg to slip up to capture second place of the final two games.
It will be a busy week for EWE Baskets Oldenburg. On Saturday the team welcomes Telekom Baskets Bonn before heading off to the LTi GIESSEN 46ers next Tuesday to play their final game in the Bundesliga Regular Season. Three days later Oldenburg will begin the quest for Eurochallenge glory as it kicks off the Final Four with hosts Pinar Karsiyaka of Turkey.
Oldenburg had started Wednesday’s game against BBC Bayreuth well and went in at half time with a 39-35 lead. However, in the second period the physical exertion over the last few weeks took its toll as Bayreuth outscored Oldenburg 23 to 14 in the third, and settled the affair in the fourth by scoring 29 points to Oldenburg’s 19.
Oldenburg head coach Sebastian Machowski’s was quick to congratulate Bayreuth but bemoaned his teams missed chance.
“Congratulations to Predrag (Bayreuth head coach Predrag Krunic) and his team, they deserved to win,” Machowski admitted.
“We had decided to start well in the game, and we implemented that to perfection.
“But afterwards we did not play with the consistency that today’s (Wednesday) opponents require.
“Bayreuth played like anything but a losing team, they showed that they wanted to win this game more.
“They had more to lose than we do.
“I hope that we keep our second place (in the league) in the remaining two games.
“But we must do things differently than how we did today during the last three quarters.”