Bamberg Baskets defeated after losing too many balls

Bamberg Baskets are still waiting for their first home win of the new season. The team of Head Coach Oren Amiel suffered a 90:102 defeat against MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, although the home side was on a par with its opponents.

The blame for the defeat lay with 17 turnovers, which the club from Swabia often exploited, especially in the third period, when it pulled 15 points ahead. Bamberg sorely missed its leading scorer Justin Gray (14 points on average), who had to miss out due to a knee ligament. Nevertheless, Bamberg got off to a strong start, kept up the pace, forced Ludwigsburg to concede three turnovers and led by the end of the quarter (28:25) after going 13:6 in front at one stage.

The visitors got into the game better in the second ten minutes and defended more tightly, intercepted passes with strong positional play and were able to seize the lead with easy fast-break points. Malik Johnson (23 points) equalized once more, but Ludwigsburg nevertheless went in at the break with a buzzer-beater (49:52).

After the break, Ludwigsburg quickly pulled away with a number of threes and stretched its lead to 67:83. Yet Bamberg showed its fighting spirit and, in particular thanks to the outstanding point guard Trey Woodbury (28 points) and Adrian Nelson (16 points, 13 rebounds), the gap shrank to six points again (90:96) shortly before the end. However, Bamberg conceded turnovers of 16 and 17 in the final seconds and Ludwigsburg drove home the victory.

Trey Woodbury (top scorer for Bamberg Baskets) commented: "It's not enough for us to take turns scoring with our opponents. We would have needed a few stops in a row and we didn't manage that. That's why we lost."Bamberg Baskets face an away game at Veolia Towers Hamburg on November 18, 2023, starting at 6:30 p.m.