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Bamberg

German Cup: Title-holders Bamberg eliminated

Bamberg, 01-12-2020

Brose Bamberg has been knocked out of the Magenta Sport German cup. The defending champions were only able to stay in contention in their semi-final against Alba Berlin for 16 minutes and were finally defeated by 66:82. In particular after the break, Bamberg produced a very weak performance in front of its home crowd and was not able to withstand the visitors’ onslaught in the third period, which it lost by 7:28.

The first quarter of an hour in the cup semi-final was a pretty evenly balanced affair. Berlin carved out an advantage under the basket, snapping up ten rebounds in the first quarter compared to Bamberg’s meager four. However, the team of Head Coach Roel Moors hit back with buckets from downtown: Paris Lee and Louis Olinde kept the deficit down to 15:18 after ten minutes, then Bryce Taylor drained two threes to tie the score at 18:18 and later 29:29. Yet the home side’s play was disrupted after the lay-up by Retin Obasohan (31:31) and the substitution of four Bamberg players in one go. Berlin capitalized on two steals to add five points and produced a 2:11 run to pull 33:42 ahead shortly before half-time. Moors brought Bryce Taylor back on court for the final attack – and the 33-year-old repaid his trust by scoring his third bucket from outside out of three attempts.

Alba Berlin increased the pressure perceptibly after the break, as nothing went right for the home side after Paris Lee’s second three to make it 41:49. Moors’ team conceded five turnovers while building its plays and Alba exploited them to add eight points. Berlin took advantage of five offensive rebounds below Bamberg’s basket to score ten points at the second bite of the cherry. And the home side’s defense no longer had any antidote to the fast combinational play in attack by the visitors, who scored 17 points without reply up to the 28th minute and then – after Harris’ lay-up to make it 43:66 – a further four to surge 43:70 ahead at the end of the quarter. After Elias Harris (8 points in total) added three more points in the fourth period, Alba stretched its lead to 46:79 in the 33rd minute. The game was long over by then and so Alba’s Head Coach Alejandro Reneses brought on four youngsters to rest his established key players. Although Bamberg was able to put a better complexion on the final score with a 20:3 run and two threes by top scorer Bryce Taylor (15 points), it was no longer able to avert defeat in the semi-final.

Brose Bamberg’s Head Coach Roel Moors commented: “Congratulations to ALBA Berlin, who won deservedly. Going into the game, we talked about three areas where we wanted to thwart Berlin: transition, movement off the ball, and offensive rebounds. We managed none of them. They were more aggressive today despite their game plan and that’s not acceptable. They’re a team that punishes every small mistake, and in the third period they made just about every shot – and when they didn’t, they snapped up the rebound. We were able to carve out good situations in attack in the first half, but that was no longer the case in the third period.”

Brose Bamberg’s next encounter is on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, when it must win on the road at Mornar Bar in order to keep in contention for a playoff spot in the Champions League. The game tips off at 8 p.m. The Montenegrin club was bottom of the table after six game days without a victory, but has now won three of its last four.

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