AND ONE!

Weekly round-up for our English-speaking fans by David Hein.

Week 7 - February 11th 2014

Bamberg advance to Top Four, struggle but beat Bremerhaven late

Brose Baskets Bamberg booked their spot in the Beko BBL Top Four in Ulm in late March by knocking off EWE Baskets Oldenburg 90-83 on the road. Bamberg then struggled against Eisbären Bremerhaven before finally winning 78-74 for their sixth straight victory. 

After a week off in the Eurocup, Brose look to return to the winning column as they host BCM Gravelines on Wednesday February 12. Bamberg then return to the Beko BBL with a road game at Walter Tigers Tübingen on Sunday February 16. 

Another win over Oldenburg

Bamberg started their week with their qualification game for the Top Four at Oldenburg - a re-match of the 2013 Beko BBL Finals as well as a reunion with former Bamberg center Philipp Neumann. The winner would be heading to Ulm on March 29-30. 

Bamberg took their first lead after two minutes. And Chris Fleming’s team used 85 percent shooting from inside the stripe to grab a 24-17 lead after one quarter. Brose would increase the lead to as many as 12 points and went into the intermission leading 44-35. 

Oldenburg pulled back to within 50-45 after four minutes but the gap was 10 points before Oldenburg trimmed it to 63-57 after three quarters.

D’Or Fischer scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter for Brose to help expand the cushion to 72-59. The guests saw Oldenburg fight the margin to 75-67 but Bamberg were solid from the free throw line down the stretch to get the victory. 

 “It was good that we were consistent - both offensively and defensively. Also that whenever we needed to do something we found the answer to keep Oldenburg at arm’s length,” said Coach Fleming. 

“The leadership from our vets tonight was great - (Casey) Jacobsen, (Anton) Gavel and (John) Goldsberry. What pleased me the most was that during the game when we struggled a bit in the third quarter that we got it back.” 

Fischer led the team with 19 points while Maik Zirbes scored 13 points, Zack Wright, Rakim Sanders and Gavel all had 12 and Elias Harris chipped in with 10. Philipp Neumann scored 21 points for Oldenburg against his former team. 

“We really prepared for this game. We lost the Eurocup game (against Ankara) and wanted to make up for it and we did that. We wanted to get into the Top Four. It’s good that we have already won here twice this year,” said Gavel.

Struggle against Bremerhaven

Brose were unable to take the momentum from the Top Four qualifier and struggled mightily back at home in the league. In the end, Bamberg would win 78-74 over Bremerhaven to improve to 16-3 - 1.5 games behind leaders Bayern Munich. 

After Harris gave Bamberg an 8-4 lead with a three-pointer and three-point play, there were four ties and five lead changes until Bremerhaven led 19-18 after 10 minutes. 

Wright temporarily gave Bamberg the lead to start the second quarter but Bremerhaven used a 6-0 run to pull ahead 34-26. And the margin was 42-36 at half-time. 

Brose continued to struggle in the second half as the guests increased the lead to 51-41. The hosts got to within 59-53 but Bremerhaven were up 63-55 after three quarters. 

Bamberg still trailed 65-57 and 67-60 when they finally started playing like the champions. Sanders sparked an 8-0 run to go ahead 68-67. Bremerhaven hit a three-pointer to regain the lead but Harris got a steal and layup for a 72-70 lead. With the game deadlocked 72-72, Bamberg decided the contest with a 5-0 run which included a Sanders steal and layup to make it 77-72. 

Harris had a strong game with 21 points while Gavel collected 19 points and six assists, Sanders scored 14 points and Fischer added 12 points. 

 “It was a tight game. It was really a battle, but I think it shows the quality of our team that we can pull it together as a team when it doesn’t go so well. It took a while but in the end, a win is a win,” said Harris. 

“I think the guys showed a lot of character, especially at the end of the game. Certainly, John (Goldsberry) was the guy who got us going defensively. We weren’t aggressive enough and Bremerhaven took advantage of that,” said Fleming.

 “We played good over long stretches against Oldenburg. Unfortunately we didn’t do that until the fourth quarter in this game. We gotta be consistent and disciplined,” added Goldsberry.

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