diff --git a/balancer/pkg/scoring/scoring.go b/balancer/pkg/scoring/scoring.go
index 493eccf2f..4b47ff5ff 100644
--- a/balancer/pkg/scoring/scoring.go
+++ b/balancer/pkg/scoring/scoring.go
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@ type ScoringService struct {
 	currentScoresMutex  *sync.Mutex
 
 	lastSeenUpdate time.Time
-	newUpdate      sync.Cond
 
 	challengesMap map[string](bundle.JuiceShopChallenge)
 }
@@ -59,7 +58,6 @@ func NewScoringServiceWithInitialScores(b *bundle.Bundle, initialScores map[stri
 		currentScoresMutex:  &sync.Mutex{},
 
 		lastSeenUpdate: time.Now(),
-		newUpdate:      *sync.NewCond(&sync.Mutex{}),
 
 		challengesMap: cachedChallengesMap,
 	}
@@ -80,23 +78,24 @@ func (s *ScoringService) WaitForUpdatesNewerThan(ctx context.Context, lastSeenUp
 	}
 
 	const maxWaitTime = 25 * time.Second
-	done := make(chan struct{})
-	go func() {
-		s.newUpdate.Wait()
-		close(done)
-	}()
-
-	select {
-	// check for update by subscribing to the newUpdate condition
-	case <-done:
-		// new update was received
-		return s.currentScoresSorted
-	case <-time.After(maxWaitTime):
-		// timeout was reached
-		return nil
-	case <-ctx.Done():
-		// request was aborted
-		return nil
+	timeout := time.NewTimer(maxWaitTime)
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(50 * time.Millisecond)
+	defer timeout.Stop()
+	defer ticker.Stop()
+
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ticker.C:
+			if s.lastSeenUpdate.After(lastSeenUpdate) {
+				return s.currentScoresSorted
+			}
+		case <-timeout.C:
+			// Timeout was reached
+			return nil
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			// Context was canceled
+			return nil
+		}
 	}
 }
 
@@ -134,7 +133,7 @@ func (s *ScoringService) StartingScoringWorker(ctx context.Context) {
 				s.currentScoresMutex.Lock()
 				s.currentScores[score.Name] = score
 				s.currentScoresSorted = sortTeamsByScoreAndCalculatePositions(s.currentScores)
-				s.newUpdate.Broadcast()
+				s.lastSeenUpdate = time.Now()
 				s.currentScoresMutex.Unlock()
 			case watch.Deleted:
 				deployment := event.Object.(*appsv1.Deployment)
@@ -142,7 +141,7 @@ func (s *ScoringService) StartingScoringWorker(ctx context.Context) {
 				s.currentScoresMutex.Lock()
 				delete(s.currentScores, team)
 				s.currentScoresSorted = sortTeamsByScoreAndCalculatePositions(s.currentScores)
-				s.newUpdate.Broadcast()
+				s.lastSeenUpdate = time.Now()
 				s.currentScoresMutex.Unlock()
 			default:
 				s.bundle.Log.Printf("Unknown event type: %v", event.Type)
diff --git a/balancer/routes/score-board.go b/balancer/routes/score-board.go
index 5b0f1bd2b..26b507b9e 100644
--- a/balancer/routes/score-board.go
+++ b/balancer/routes/score-board.go
@@ -19,20 +19,25 @@ func handleScoreBoard(bundle *b.Bundle, scoringService *scoring.ScoringService)
 		func(responseWriter http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
 			var totalTeams []*scoring.TeamScore
 
+			bundle.Log.Printf("handling score board request")
 			if req.URL.Query().Get("wait-for-update-after") != "" {
 				lastSeenUpdate, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, req.URL.Query().Get("wait-for-update-after"))
 				if err != nil {
+					bundle.Log.Printf("Invalid time format")
 					http.Error(responseWriter, "Invalid time format", http.StatusBadRequest)
 					return
 				}
 				totalTeams = scoringService.WaitForUpdatesNewerThan(req.Context(), lastSeenUpdate)
 				if totalTeams == nil {
+					bundle.Log.Printf("Got nothing from waiting for updates")
 					responseWriter.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
+					responseWriter.Write([]byte{})
 					return
 				}
 			} else {
 				totalTeams = scoringService.GetTopScores()
 			}
+			bundle.Log.Printf("Got %d teams", len(totalTeams))
 
 			var topTeams []*scoring.TeamScore
 			// limit score-board to calculate score for the top 24 teams only
diff --git a/balancer/ui/src/pages/ScoreOverview.tsx b/balancer/ui/src/pages/ScoreOverview.tsx
index 581254640..355b5eeba 100644
--- a/balancer/ui/src/pages/ScoreOverview.tsx
+++ b/balancer/ui/src/pages/ScoreOverview.tsx
@@ -39,10 +39,16 @@ interface Team {
   challenges: string[];
 }
 
-async function fetchTeams(): Promise<Team[]> {
-  const response = await fetch(
-    `/balancer/api/score-board/top?wait-for-update-after=${new Date().toISOString()}`
-  );
+async function fetchTeams(lastSeen: Date | null): Promise<null | Team[]> {
+  const url = lastSeen
+    ? `/balancer/api/score-board/top?wait-for-update-after=${lastSeen.toISOString()}`
+    : "/balancer/api/score-board/top";
+  const response = await fetch(url);
+
+  if (response.status === 204) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
   const { teams } = await response.json();
   return teams;
 }
@@ -53,43 +59,36 @@ export function ScoreOverviewPage({
   activeTeam: string | null;
 }) {
   const [teams, setTeams] = useState<Team[]>([]);
-  useEffect(() => {
-    fetchTeams().then(setTeams);
-
-    const timer = setInterval(() => {
-      fetchTeams().then(setTeams);
-    }, 5000);
-
-    return () => {
-      clearInterval(timer);
-    };
-  }, []);
-  const [lastUpdateStarted, setLastUpdateStarted] = useState(Date.now());
 
   let timeout: number | null = null;
-  async function updateScoreData() {
+  const updateScoreData = async (lastSuccessfulUpdate: Date | null) => {
     try {
-      setLastUpdateStarted(Date.now());
-      const status = await fetchTeams();
-      setTeams(status);
+      const lastUpdateStarted = new Date();
+      const status = await fetchTeams(lastSuccessfulUpdate);
+      if (status !== null) {
+        setTeams(status);
+      }
 
       // the request is using a http long polling mechanism to get the updates as soon as possible
       // in case the request returns immediatly we wait for at least 3 seconds to ensure we aren't spamming the server
-      const waitTime = Math.max(3000, 5000 - (Date.now() - lastUpdateStarted));
+      const waitTime = Math.max(
+        3000,
+        5000 - (Date.now() - lastUpdateStarted.getTime())
+      );
       console.log(
         "Waited for",
-        Date.now() - lastUpdateStarted,
+        Date.now() - lastUpdateStarted.getTime(),
         "ms for status update"
       );
       console.log("Waiting for", waitTime, "ms until starting next request");
-      timeout = window.setTimeout(() => updateScoreData(), waitTime);
+      timeout = window.setTimeout(() => updateScoreData(new Date()), waitTime);
     } catch (err) {
       console.error("Failed to fetch current teams!", err);
     }
-  }
+  };
 
   useEffect(() => {
-    updateScoreData();
+    updateScoreData(null);
     return () => {
       if (timeout !== null) {
         clearTimeout(timeout);