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Basketball Bundesliga: Brose Bamberg defeats Giessen in last second

Bamberg, 09-28-2021

Thrill in the Brose Arena: almost with the final siren, the outstanding top scorer Omar Prewitt threw Brose Bamberg to its first home victory in the new season: 3,033 spectators cheered the 89-87 tremble victory over the jobstairs Giessen 46ers after the home side of the Brose Arena had been trailing almost hopelessly with 64-78 with seven minutes to go.

After a year and seven months, fans were finally allowed back into the Brose Arena: The 3,030 Bamberg and three Giessen supporters saw a varied, exciting, fighting and rousing game, in which, however, both teams lacked coordination and game finesse at the beginning of the season.

In the first quarter, it was mainly the defensive lines that were convincing. Only playmaker Justin Robinson hit a three-pointer for Bamberg, the other six attempts of the home side missed the basket. The Roijakkers boys also failed to hit the baskets - only four out of ten went through the net, only 17:14 after ten minutes. At the start of the second quarter, Bamberg picked up the pace and pulled away to 34:26 thanks to great passes and basket assists from Justin Robinson and Patrick Heckmann as well as finishes from Trevis Simpson, who scored his nine points before the break. As a result, Bamberg became more sloppy at the back and less concentrated at the front, so that Giessen took the lead for the first time in the 19th minute - 37:38. Justin Robinson (12 points) saved the halftime lead with two free throws (39:38).

Bamberg came out of the dressing room better and went ahead 44:38 with Prewitt's basket and Patrick Heckmann's three-point play (11 points), Robinson added one of the few successful three-pointers to make it 54:47. But since Bamberg allowed the guests five offensive rebounds on defense and the Giesseners promptly used them to score ten points, Roijakkers' team was down 64-65 at the end of the third quarter. And it was to get even worse: in the first three minutes of the final quarter, Bamberg did not succeed at all: coordination problems at the back, missed passes out of bounds, missed balls and easy baskets that bounced back from the basket. Nothing worked for Bamberg, Giessen went on a 0:13 run, Bamberg was down 64:78 with seven minutes to go. Omar Prewitt's three-pointer to make it 67:78 was like redemption. The American followed up with a layup, Justin Robinson hit his third three-pointer. Prewitt's next long-range shot brought Bamberg back within striking distance at 77-80, and within 150 seconds Bamberg had caught up, thanks in part to the now frenetically cheering fans. But the fact that it took four more minutes for Bamberg to take an 86-85 lead with 34 seconds to go was due to the home side's poor free-throw percentage: for three quarters, Bamberg shot almost 90 percent from the line and in the final four minutes, six out of ten free throws missed the basket. Giessen equalized 87:87 with seven seconds to go, and of course top scorer Omar Prewitt got the last ball: a solid mid-range shot into the basket, 89:87 victory, Prewitt crowned his performance with his 32nd point, was also the best rebounder of the evening with 9 rebounds.

Johan Roijakkers (head coach Brose Bamberg): "We knew what was coming. Giessen had played very physically against Bayreuth, and were very dominant at the hoop. Nevertheless, everything was reasonably good for three quarters. Only: We had difficulties to hit the open three-pointer. Therefore, it was a close game before the final period. Then we forgot our game plan a little bit. Giessen became more physical, got some offensive rebounds. Without our fans, we would have lost this game with 14 points difference. They pushed us when it was important. You could see what a difference the crowd makes. And then at the end we gave the ball to the man with the hot hand."

On October 02, 2021, the team from Brose Bamberg will face a high hurdle: in the round of 16 of the magentaSport BBL Cup, the Upper Franconians will be guests of FC Bayern Munich at the Audi Dome starting at 8:30 pm.