Champions League: Brose Bamberg captures first win on the road in Antwerp

Just two days after the embarrassing 66:92 debacle in Braunschweig, Brose Bamberg has made amends with a plucky performance: The team of Head Coach Ainars Bagatskis won 85:76 at Telenet Giants Antwerp, with which it was level on points before the game, to move into top spot in Group C – at least for a day.

If there is one constant about this season, then it is that Bamberg is unfortunately its injury woes: Elias Harris twisted his ankle in the final training session and was forced to watch from the sideline. And the rules on foreign players in the Champions League meant Bamberg also had to leave out a non-German player – in this case Bryce Taylor, who counts as American by birth, and not German, in the Champions League. However, the remaining ten Bamberg players got off to a lightning start: Augustine Rubit drained his first four shots unerringly and Stevan Jelovac followed suit the first three times he had possession to help put their side 17:4 in front after five minutes. Although Antwerp closed the gap to 21:13, center Cliff Alexander (12 points) in particular turned on the heat: With a completely different body language than in the last games, he exploited every opportunity under the basket, making one lay-up after the other. Brose led 30:15 at the end of the first period and pulled 43:22 ahead midway through the second quarter. However, Antwerp struck back with a run of 12 points without reply, forcing Bagatskis to call a timeout. Stevan Jelovac restored the visitors’ confidence with free throws and then a bucket from downtown and put Bamberg 51:40 in front at the break with his 13th point in the first half.

Stevan Jelovac also came back on court in deadly shooting form: The Serbian player first stretched the gap to 56:40 with a lay-up and a three and, after a small run by Antwerp to make it 56:49, struck back with his next bucket from beyond the arc to chalk up his points number 19, 20 and 21. However, Bamberg then had to fight more tenaciously to get shots in against the Belgium club’s steadily improving defense and often resorted to solo actions instead of the beautiful combinations it showed in the first half. It was also annoying that Antwerp reduced Bamberg’s lead to single digits again with a three in the final second of the third period (64:57). And when Augustine Rubit was blocked while making a slam-dunk, the Belgian side closed the deficit to 64:60 on a fast break and, two attacks later, tied the scores at 64:64. Stevan Jelovac took things into his own hands for Bamberg again, draining free throws and his third bucket from outside to make it 69:66. And then stalwart Nikos Zisis took charge: Two threes from the Greek player wriggled their way into the net and put Bamberg 77:70 ahead with two minutes remaining. However, an unsporting foul by Maurice Stuckey allowed the Belgian club to score four points on one play and so cut the deficit to just 77:74 with still two minutes to go. Antwerp reverted to a stop-the-clock tactic and committed fouls so that Bamberg had to be happy with free throws. Whereas top scorer Jelovac (30 points) and Zisis (13) were flawless from the foul line, the home side was thwarted on its fast attacks by Bamberg’s defense. As a result, Bamberg ran out winners by 85:76 to capture its first away victory in the Champions League and even top Group C at least for one night.

Ainars Bagatskis commented: “It was interesting for me to see how we would respond after that desolate performance in Braunschweig. We got back up and gave everything on court. It wasn’t our best game of the season so far, but it was our strongest physically. We were well prepared for Antwerp and were able to curb their aggression and strength from behind the arc over large stretches. We got off to a very good start and controlled the game at all times, even when things got tight.”