Brose Bamberg wins tournament in Bayreuth

Brose Bamberg also won its final warm-up game before the new season, which begins this Friday, securing a 63:82 victory over MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg in the expert Jakob Cup 2016 in Bayreuth. Once again, good and consistent defending, as well as well-tuned team play in offense were the key. Three Brose players got into double digits. Fabien Causeur was the top scorer with 20 points and was also chosen as the MVP in the tournament.

Andrea Trinchieri changed his starting formation in one position compared to the semi-final victory over Bayreuth: Nikos Zisis partnered Causeur, Melli, Miller and Kratzer this time. The opening minute saw each side score a free throw, after which Fabien Causeur drained a bucket from beyond the arc after 70 seconds (1:4 in the 2nd minute). As in the semi-final the previous day, Brose was in good form at the beginning, especially in defense. And Causeur was reliable up front. Five straight points by him gave Bamberg its first double-digit lead after four minutes (3:13). It took almost five minutes for Ludwigsburg to drain a bucket from the floor, but Zisis struck back with the next three for Brose (6:18 in the 6th minute). Toppert made a bucket from outside for the club from Swabia 60 seconds before the end of the period to put it into double digits. After the minutes and a total of 14 points from Fabien Causeur, Brose led by nine (16:25).

Cotton opened the scoring for Ludwigsburg in the second period, after which Miller drained a three for Brose (18:29 in the 12th minute). There ensued a spell of three minutes where neither side scored, before Janis Strelnieks buried the next bucket from beyond the arc for Bamberg. Brose’s lead midway through the period was ten points (22:32). It remained a quarter full of missed chances. Both Ludwigsburg and Bamberg squandered a lot of points in attack. It was only in the final two minutes that the Brose express started clicking over a little better. Zisis and Veremeenko made it 24:40. Brose led at the break by 29:45 after a buzzer-beating three by Lucca Staiger. Fabien Causeur was the top scorer up to then with 14 points, while Nicolò Melli snapped up seven rebounds.

Leon Kratzer put the first points on the board in the second half, then Zisis added a bucket from outside (29:50 in the 23rd minute). Bamberg’s lead then gyrated around the 20-point mark. Vladimir Veremeenko made it 35:56 midway through the period. Ludwigsburg buried a three, but Darius Miller and Veremeenko again hit back (37:60 in the 26th minute). Fabien Causeur and Janis Strelnieks were the next scorers for Brose, who stretched its lead to 23 points going into the last ten minutes: 42:65. Apart from Causeur (18 points), Nikos Zisis (10) and Janis Strelnieks (10) were also into double digits by that time.

It was almost two minutes before Ali Nikolic opened the scoring in the final period. The Slovenian player followed that up a short time later, while Leon Kratzer made an and 1 (47:72 in the 34th minute). Understandably, the game petered out midway through the quarter. Lucca Staiger drained a three to make it 47:75. Bamberg finally coasted to a comfortable 63:82 victory to defend their title in the expert Jakob Cup. Now its entire focus is on this Friday, when FRAPORT SKYLINERS visit the BROSE ARENA for the first game of the new German Basketball League season.