BBL Cup: Bamberg with must-win at Artland Dragons

The newly formed Bamberg Baskets started the new season with a victory in the BBL Cup. Coach Oren Amiel's team won 78:67 against the Pro-A league team Artland Dragons from Quakenbrück and now has to play the Hamburg Towers in the round of 16 in three weeks.

Coach Oren Amiel had to deal with two absences in the first competitive game: Patrick Heckmann is out for a longer period of time due to illness and Justin Gray was unable to play at short notice due to an upset stomach. The team from Artland got off to the better start, converting a 4:0 lead into a 4:9 lead within five attacks. After a quick time-out by coach Oren Amiel, Bamberg got into the game better, especially the substitute shooting guard Zach Copeland could not adjust to the hosts in front of their 3000 fans. With four points, he brought the cathedral city back into the game by the end of the quarter, 17:17 after 10 minutes. With an 8:0 run, Bamberg pulled away to 28:20 at the beginning of the second quarter, and with 13 points from Zach Copeland and a well-performing forward Adrian Nelson, Bamberg went into the break with a 38:31 lead.

Top scorer Copeland (26 points) and Nelson (12 points) were the main players in the 13:0 run after the break. Bamberg pulled away to 51:33, but when coach Oren Amiel gave his two top scorers a break, Quakenbrück got back to within 52:45. The hosts started with four more points in quarter four and the game threatened to tip at 54:49. But then Bamberg returnee Karsten Tadda took over. The captain sank two three-pointers, three free throws and a fast-break scorer and with these eleven of his 13 points within 150 seconds ensured a 70:49 lead for Bamberg. Thus, the guests were able to bring the victory over time with peace of mind. Nevertheless, the Bamberg team still has a lot of work to do in the Bundesliga: 17 ball losses and 19 allowed offensive rebounds are too many, offensively things were not yet going too smoothly until the basket.

Oren Amiel (Headcoach Bamberg Baskets): "For us it was only important to win this game, because in the cup you only have one chance. We are still far from playing the basketball we want to show our fans, we made some mistakes. But we were ready for this cup battle in a great atmosphere and kept the energy and enthusiasm high in our game."

The Bamberg Baskets kick off the new Easycredit BBL season on Thursday, 28 September 2023, with the Amiel boys aiming to hold their own at promoted RASTA Vechta from 6.30 pm.