Klosterneuburg's Carius

TikTok star as hero of the final seconds

His 62 points in a college game are a hit on TikTok. His 20 points in the quarter-final opener against Kapfenberg were also a hit for the Klosterneuburg basketball team. But with his defensive rebound with exactly 11.9 seconds left, Will Carius was ultimately the "match winner" for the home side.

Klosterneuburg had started the first duel of the Superliga play-offs extremely confidently, leading 26:14 after the first quarter. However, the magic had worn off by the break and the visitors even briefly took the lead. "There was a bit of nervousness and uncertainty because we hadn't played against Kapfenberg in this constellation before," explained manager Matthias Hager later, "we made life more difficult for ourselves than it should have been." Many threes were missed unnecessarily. Including by Carius, who only hit two of his nine shots from distance.

However, he shone in the first half when he blocked a dunk. The US wing player then snapped up the defensive rebound with 11.9 seconds left to make it 85:82 after shots by Williams and Baumann, was fouled in the process - and scored the final points to make it 86:82.

The game continues in Kapfenberg on Tuesday. "We know them now," said Hager, "so I'm expecting a better performance from us."

5:0 into the derby

They have already met five times this season, including the Cup quarter-finals, and Traiskirchen have beaten St. Pölten five times. "We have an advantage in a possible fifth game because we have home court, but it's not as clear-cut as it looks," warns Traiskirchen's managing director Paul Handler ahead of the quarter-final derby on Sunday, "but we certainly have a good chance of advancing."

After the change of coach, SKN fired a warning shot with the win against Wels at the end of the placement round. "We did what we set out to do," revealed St. Pölten manager Stefan Worenz, "everyone saw that he is a building block of success." And the game against Traiskirchen? "Except for the last duel, we were always good, especially in Traiskirchen"