German Basketball League: Bamberg Baskets lose by a clear margin in last quarter against Bayern

After its surprising victory over Alba Berlin, Bamberg Baskets was not able to add to its success against FC Bayern Munich. The Amiel team suffered a 69:91 defeat at BMW Park after Bamberg had almost equalised a 17-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter.

Bamberg got off to another weak start, trailing by seven points (6:13) after five minutes and 12:24 after the first period. It was only after a further 4:9 run to make it 16:33 that Bamberg woke up, in particular in the form of top scorer Kevin Wohlrath with 14 points: The German drained three threes up to half-time and Bamberg reduced the deficit to 39:44 at the break. Filip Stanic reduced the deficit to 41:44 with 10 points after the break, but the visitors did not get any closer. Centre EJ Onu kept Bamberg in the game (53:57) until the end of the third quarter, but Bamberg's defense broke down in the final quarter. Whereas Amiel's players held Bayern to a mere 25 per cent shooting percentage on all attempted threes for 30 minutes, the home side drained seven threes in the final quarter. Bamberg was not able to keep up, not least because Zach Copeland had a pitch-black day, scoring just two points and hitting just one bucket from eight shots.

Trey Woodbury, Bamberg Baskets: "We played okay overall. Bayern had too many open shots in the final quarter and had a great run. We have to stay together as a team and keep improving."

Bamberg Baskets host the reigning German champions Ratiopharm Ulm on Friday, 19 January 2024. Tip-off is at 8 p.m.