easyCredit German Basketball League: Brose Bamberg defeats Gießen 109:101 in a magnificent display of offensive play

What a spectacle of attacking basketball! A 109:101 home win after overtime means Brose Bamberg have swapped positions in the table with the season’s surprise team, Gießen 46ers, and has now moved up into third in the easycredit German Basketball League. The team of Head Coach Ainars Bagatskis again had to catch up after trailing by double digits (24:34, 56:66), but still failed to defend an eight-point lead at the start of the final period and so win in regular time.

Bagatskis was again forced to change his plans at short notice: Youngster Louis Olinde twisted his ankle in training and Elias Harris was likewise missing. However, Patrick Heckmannschneller’s torn ligament had healed sooner than expected and so the 26-year-old was able to give his side an important boost, especially after the break and in overtime. In the first half, Bamberg had to cope with a Gießen side that, buoyed with confidence and eager for action, threatened to steamroller the home side. The club from Hesse, with an average of 92 points a game and so the league’s second-best team in offense after Berlin, came out firing from all guns and drained an outstanding 13 threes out of just 17 attempts in the first half. However, Bamberg struck back against Gießen’s effervescent display in attack (57 points up to the break) with a similarly strong performance in offense. In particular after their side trailed 24:34, Tyrese Rice and Stevan Jelovac turned on the magic and brought Bamberg closer and closer with two buckets from outside each. Nikos Zisis then drained a three to make it 53:54, but Gießen struck back in kind seconds before half-time (53:57).

The visitors gained the upper hand once more in the first three minutes after the break and surged 56:66 in front thanks to four lay-ups. The turning point came with a dubious unsporting foul on Tyrese Rice – Gießen could have been able to pull 13 points ahead, but Bamberg’s defense twice stopped easy shots by the club from Hesse, whereas the strong Nikos Zisis (16 points) went down the other end to add a three and make it 61:67. Maurice Stuckey and Daniel Schmidt followed that up by two further buckets from beyond the arc to tie the scores at 67:67 and leave the encounter up for grabs again. And since Bamberg was now far more solid in defense and did not allow the visitors any more wide-open threes, Patrick Heckmann and Daniel Schmidt (11 points) were able to put the home side 82:76 in front at the end of the third period. Cliff Alexander (12 points) opened the fourth period with a spectacular slam-dunk to give Bamberg its highest lead up to then (84:76), but Gießen did not give up: The visitors drained the last two threes of their total of 17 in the game to even recapture the lead (91:92) with three minutes remaining and stretched it to 93:96 with 120 seconds left. Top scorer Tyrese Rice (21 points) drained an important bucket from downtown to equalize and, on the visitors’ final attack, Augustine Rubit stole possession from Gießen’s best player John Bryant. However, Tyrese Rice’s shot with seconds to go missed the basket, leaving the game tied at 98:98 and sending it into overtime. And it then that Bamberg unfurled all its experience: At last, Bagatskis’ players stood perfectly in defense, with the result that Gießen lacked the confidence to try any shots from outside; the home side also made it difficult for the opposing side to make lay-ups. And at the other end Bamberg built a quick lead and sealed victory: A slam-dunk by Cliff Alexander, a three from Patrick Heckmann, and free throws by Augustine Rubit (19 points) and Stevan Jelovac (14 points) meant their side won the overtime duel by 11:3 and captured victory.

Ainars Bagatskis commented: “Gießen’s haul of 13 three-pointers out of 17 attempts in the first half is difficult to keep up. I explained to my team at the break that we had to stick to our game and continue playing our systems. Gießen only made four out of 17 attempts from outside in the second half and we were able to use Augustine Rubit better and better in pick and roll plays. It’s funny to say it about a game where you concede more than 100 points, but our defense was the key. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough to win. The fact that we conceded just four turnovers is also one of the reasons why we won.”