Talents lead Brose Bamberg to comfortable 100:74 victory

The 10th win in a row in the Champions League and German league under new Head Coach Federico Perego was the easiest to date: After an evenly matched opening (8:8) against bottom-of-the-table Bremerhaven Polar Bears, Brose Bamberg turned on the heat to stroll to a 100:74 victory. A remarkable aspect in the game: Almost half the points – 48 – were scored by talents under the age of 23.

The visitors from Bremerhaven proved a match for just the first five minutes and, after the club from Northern Germany had tied the scores at 8:8, Bamberg turned on the heat in the shape of Maurice Stuckey, as the 27-year-old notched up eight of his total haul of 14 points, including two buckets from downtown, in the space of two minutes. Bamberg soon pulled 20:11 ahead. After the visitors reduced the deficit to 20:15, Ricky Hickman took charge and added a three, a lay-up and a free throw in just 30 seconds, after which Bryce Taylor scored to bring the period to a close (28:16). The second quarter was dominated by two youngsters: Louis Olinde and Arnaldas Kulboka (15 points), who both turned in their best performance of the season. Whereas Olinde beavered away below the basket and made nine points as well as two rebounds, Kulboka demonstrated his exceptional qualities as a three-point marksman: Four out of five shots from beyond the arc by the young Lithuanian hit their mark – a haul of 12 points that made him Bamberg’s top scorer at half-time (56:34).

After the break it was again one of the young professionals – Cliff Alexander – who displayed his talent, adding a string of slam-dunks and chalking up eight of his 19 points in the third period. In addition, Alexander snapped up nine rebounds and so only narrowly missed out on a double-double. In the meantime Henri Drell, the 18-year-old Estonian from Baunach Young Pikes, made his debut in the German league. He crowned his 14 minutes on court with his first two points in the domestic competition. Yet the youngsters were also very solid in defense and so Bamberg kept on stretching its lead – from 80:52 at the end of the third quarter to 94:60 with five minutes remaining. Bamberg then took things more casually and rested stalwart Nikos Zisis, who had an elbow injury. However, the commanding victory was no longer in jeopardy.

Federico Perego commented: “We played well and were ready for the game today. We defended decently and carved out open shots in attack. That was the key to victory.”