Brose Bamberg loses at Bayern Munich

Cup winners Brose Bamberg lost their game on the road at reigning champions Bayern Munich by 75:83. That means the team of Head Coach Federico Perego can no longer finish fourth in the regular season of the German Basketball League and so does not have home court advantage in the quarter-finals. Bamberg needs just one more win from its final three games against Oldenburg, Bayreuth and Würzburg to secure fifth spot.

Federico Perego was missing Ricky Hickman due to adductor problems and so youngster Henri Drell was included in the squad. Both teams focused more on their attacking play rather than defense, as the home side took an initial advantage in the Audi Dome to leave Bamberg trailing by 11:18. However, a bucket from downtown by Maurice Stuckey sparked a strong spell for the visitors, who ended the first period 22:20 ahead after a slam-dunk by Elias Harris, two lay-ups from Nikos Zisis and a shot from close distance by Augustin Rubit. Bamberg also retained a narrow lead to begin with in the second period: Two buckets by Augustine Rubit and the next three from Maurice Stuckey (8 points) gave it its highest lead (29:22). Yet Munich struck back, even though Bamberg kept on staying ahead thanks to buckets from outside by Tyrese Rice (8 points). However, Munich managed to snatch a 42:44 lead with the last shot of the first half.

As in its home game against Braunschweig four days previously, Bamberg was caught napping at the start of the second half. After Augustine Rubit (10 points) made a lay-up, Bamberg went four minutes without scoring and so the home side pulled 44:54 and a little later 46:60 in front. Bamberg made a big effort to close the gap again and reduced it to six points (65:71) at the start of the fourth period thanks to two threes by Bryce Taylor (9 points). Yet Bayern stepped up a gear and stopped Bamberg’s comeback. Federico Perego then put on his young talents simultaneously – top scorer Cliff Alexander (12 points), Louis Olinde, Arnaldas Kulboka and Henri Drell – and rested his key players for the semi-final of the Champions League on Friday evening.

Federico Perego commented: “Bayern showed the experience and physical strength it has gained from the EuroLeague today. We wanted to give our all and tried to put up stiff resistance, but we had too little strength in the end. We also knew that we face important and tough games at the weekend. That’s why we also tried to get to grips with Bayern using our young players later – and they also did a very good job for large stretches.”