German Basketball League: Bamberg Baskets roll over Alba after the break

What a start to the new year: Bamberg Baskets swept EuroLeague participant Alba Berlin out of the Brose Arena by 97:77 in the first basketball game of 2024. An amazing victory that the 5,700 cheering spectators had not expected after a 2:16 start.

Bamberg still struggled with its shooting percentage in the first period: Many attempted threes bounced back off the hoop and even some easy lay-ups missed their mark. Alba Berlin exploited that mercilessly and trailed 2:16 after four minutes. The comeback began with the substitution of Lukas Herzog. Herzog put Alba's top scorer Matt Thomas on the chain and scored four times for Bamberg. Bamberg closed the gap to 15:23 by the end of the quarter, after which Filip Stanic and Kevin Wohlrath reduced the deficit to 29:30, but Alba scattered threes to make it 33:41 at half-time.

Bamberg came out of the locker room transformed: Justin Gray drained a lay-up and a three to give his side its first lead (44:43) and Adrian Nelson and Malick Johnson even gave it a small cushion, which Berlin almost equalised by the end of the quarter (61:60). Bamberg came out unleashed against a now frustrated Berlin in the final period: The Amiel players were stable and focused at the back and conjured up the ball in front: Top scorer Zach Copeland (24 points) displayed his entire arsenal in offence with threes, lay-ups and fine lay-ups. Bamberg literally rolled over Alba with 37 points - an unexpected and deserved thunderous victory!

Bamberg Baskets' Head Coach Oren Amiel commented: "That's a very important win for us. We work very hard and have often had to learn the hard way because of our inexperience. But you can only reward yourself for your work with wins like this."

On Sunday, 14 January 2024, the Bamberg Baskets will face another duel against a cup top contender: Tip-off at FC Bayern Munich is at 3:30 p.m.