Champions League: Brose Bamberg defeats Gaziantep

Brose Bamberg can feel that it is the winner of the tenth game day in the Champions League. After difficulties in the opening spell and trailing by 0:12, the team of Head Coach Roel Moors went on to beat Gaziantep Basketbol by 86:81, while its nearest rivals for playoff spots three and four lost. Bamberg has now reduced the gap to Peristeri Winmaster and Nizhny Novgorod to one win and so has it in its own hands to reach the playoffs.

Yet a Bamberg victory against bottom-of-the-table Gaziantep did not look on the cards to begin with: Moors’ team started with a desolate performance in offense, missing shots and conceding four turnovers in the opening minutes, and slipped 0:12 behind – some fans even booed their side as the Head Coach called a timeout. His changes only bore fruit with the score standing at 2:15: New signing Darion Atkins scored two lay-ups, while buckets from downtown by Louis Olinde, Bryce Taylor and Paris Lee slashed the deficit to 15:21 by the end of the period. Kameron Taylor added six points in a row shortly before the break to give his side a narrow 42:40 lead at half-time.

Both teams had their runs after the break, as Bamberg went 50:44 ahead, only for the visitors to strike back and move 54:55 in front. Top scorer Kameron Taylor (15 points) then went through a hot-hand period in which he added nine points, and Assem Marei, who did not have any luck with his shots before the break, drained five points to give Bamberg a 73:60 advantage. The final period again saw indications of the problem that has dogged Bamberg for the past months: hasty finishing, missed lay-ups and a certain nervousness in the team when the opposing side catches up at the end. As a result, Gaziantep was able creep back into contention and reduce the gap to 75:73, before playmaker Paris Lee shored up Bamberg with the most important bucket from beyond the arc in the encounter. Assem Marei (9 points) and Tre McLean (11) rounded off the run to make it 84:74 with three minutes remaining. Yet victory was still not sealed: Gaziantep hit back to close the deficit to 84:80 with highly aggressive defending and fast attacks, but then Christian Sengfelder dispelled all worries by making it 86:80 with 39 seconds left on the clock.

Brose Bamberg’s Head Coach Roel Moors commented: “I’m very happy about this victory. We showed that we’re still alive. When you get off to such a lousy start, you’re under pressure from the outset and have negative energy. But the guys dug themselves out of the hole, fought their way back into the game and battled for every ball. The rebounding statistics show that very clearly. That was a very good victory for us.”

Bamberg’s next game is the semi-final in the Magenta Sport German cup at home in the Brose Arena on Sunday, January 12, 2020 (tip-off: 6 p.m.), when the reigning cup holders face Alba Berlin in a repeat of last year’s final.

For more information visit www.brosebamberg.de, www.easycredit-bbl.de and http://www.championsleague.basketball/de.