LUDWIGSBURG (Basketball Champions League) - medi Bayreuth stole the opening leg of of their Quarter-Final match-up with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, 86-81, on Tuesday evening in Germany.

Trailing almost the entire game, Bayreuth led for less than eight minutes of the contest, but came through when it mattered.

With Ludwigsburg up nine and seven minutes remaining, Bayreuth went on an 11-0 run, punctuated by a three-point play by Assem Marei on a reverse lay up to get back into the game and ultimately roll to victory.

Nate Linhart carried the visitors on his back in the fourth, scoring 10 of his 14 points to lead his squad to the crucial Leg 1 win.

Five players reached double figures for the visitors, led by Gabe York's 18, after he recovered from a slow start. James Robinson added 14, and De'Mon Brooks and Assem Marei had 13-a-piece.

Thomas Walkup was impressive for Ludwigsburg on his way to 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, whilst Adika Peter-McNeilly had 13 and Kerron Johnson added 9 assists with his 12 points.

"I think it was a very, very good basketball game from both sides, well played," medi Bayreuth Head Coach Raoul Korner said.

"I need to congratulate my guys. For us, the keys were to control the offensive rebounds. I think we did a better job in the second half to do so.

"Turnovers are still an issue, it's very difficult to look after the basketball against such a physical, aggressive team. But the guys hung in there, I think we we were down 11 towards the end and different guys take over; Nate as an example in the last quarter, took the team on his shoulders offensively and we digged in defensively and got some stops.

"We were able to bounce back and I think that's the key. Mistakes are going to happen against a team like this because they're so aggressive, but we dealt with those mistakes, very, very, well. We played possession by possession and I think we put ourselves in a very good position for the second game."

Ludwigsburg's Thomas Walkup remained optimistic for the second leg, despite the defeat.

"Credit to them for coming in here, playing hard, playing strong, playing physical," he said.

"Now we've got to do the same thing to them in their place. Five points is obviously an obstacle but something that we think we can do. We've just got to go in there with the right focus and physicality to do it."

Ludwigsburg held on to an 18-10 lead after the opening quarter following a slow start from both teams which saw them struggle to connect. Walkup hit a deep three in the dying seconds of the period to give Ludwigsburg a double-digit lead, but Assem Marei hammered a dunk home to beat the buzzer and end the quarter, restoring their lead.

A fast start to the second period from Bayreuth saw them fight back, as James Robinson knocked down a jumper to pull them within three just a minute into the period.

The visitors kept the pressure on; a 6-0 run sparked by Robinson saw Bayreuth pull back within three, 24-21, with a little over 5 minuts to play in the half as Ludwigsburg called timeout. Peter-McNeilly knocked down a triple straight out of the timeout to steady the ship for the home side, but Bayreuth were refusing to go away.

An impressive tip from Gabe York saw Bayreuth take the lead, 28-27, with 3:21 to play in the half, however, Ludwigsburg finish the half on a 14-5 run, led by Justin Sears and Walkup, to take 41-33 lead into the break.

Lead changes would continue to occur in the third, but as the final period approached, Peter-McNeilly knocked down another trey, this time to beat the buzzer, to give Ludwigsburg a 62-57 lead heading into the final period.

And when Walkup hit a huge three from deep to take his personal tally to 15 and give Ludwigsburg a 9 point cushion, 69-60, two minutes into the final period, it appeared as though the home team had finally broken the game open.

However, Bayreuth had other ideas, going on their run, before pulling away down the stretch behind Linhart's 10 fourth quarter points.