Bamberg Baskets lose in Berlin

On paper, it was a narrow 92:98 defeat at EuroLeague team Alba Berlin, but the result belies the disappointing course of the game for Bamberg Baskets. And since its rivals for tenth place in the play-in table were able to win their games, Bamberg's chances of a season encore after the main round are dwindling.

With five matchdays to go before the end of the main season, Woltmann's players must now close the gap to Hamburg by two wins and Oldenburg by three if they want to reach the play-in round. The defeat at Alba Berlin is all the more annoying, as the chances of an away win in the capital have not been this good for a long time. Seven key players were missing for Alba: Khalifa Koumadje, who was suspended for an assault, as well as the injured Johannes Thiemann, Matteo Spagnolo, Gabriele Procida, Yanni Wetzell, Matt Thomas and Louis Olinde. Bamberg was only able to capitalize on that in the first 15 minutes due to lax defending. Bamberg led 29:20 after five points by Trey Woodbury and a three by EJ Onu, but Berlin produced a run of 2:13 to make it 43:45 at half-time. Zach Copeland put Bamberg 49:47 in front again with six points in a row at the start of the second half, but Bamberg then lacked any attitude, especially in defense. Berlin pulled 68:86 ahead before top scorer Zach Copeland, who scored 25 points, staged a belated comeback.

Arne Woltmann (Head Coach Bamberg Baskets) commented: "No matter who was missing for Berlin - it's a EuroLeague team with high quality. You can't afford to make mistakes there. We lost the game in the third period because we played a bit headlessly, weren't clever and ran into a run by Berlin that's difficult to make up for."

Bamberg Baskets host BG Göttingen at home in the Brose Arena on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Tip-off is at 8 p.m