Basketball Bundesliga: Bamberg Baskets fight hard, but lose

A defeat that gives hope: The Bamberg Baskets lost their home debut 83:92 against the EWE Baskets Oldenburg, but the way Oren Amiel's boys fought their way back twice after trailing by a large margin deserves respect.

Bamberg slept through the start of the game, letting themselves be too impressed by the aggressive defence of the Lower Saxons. 0:9 after 180 seconds, 2:15 after five minutes. Top scorer Zach Copeland's three-pointer released energy and Justin Gray's accuracy: Gray hit three threes by the end of the quarter, Bamberg caught up to 21:24. Copeland continued in the second quarter, made 17 points until the break and took the three-pointer for 41:41. Mistakes in the defence, however, prevented a lead, 48:53 at half-time.

In the third quarter, Bamberg did not get a leg on the ground, 0:10 run to 50:63, with 62:78 it went into the final quarter. After a 0:6 start to 62:84, it looked like a debacle, but point guard Trey Woodbury and Lukas Herzog, who only came on in the fourth quarter, gave Bamberg new strength. The home side came back to within 83:89, but Oldenburg did not give up the victory.

Oren Amiel (Head Coach Bamberg Baskets): "It looked like we were going to give up. But we fought back and leave the game with a good feeling. We have to get the ball into the zone more. We didn't do that well."

Bamberg will take on MLP Academics Heidelberg away on 5 November from 3.30 pm.

Further information at http://www.bamberg.basketball/ and www.easycredit-bbl.de.