EuroLeague: Bamberg celebrates third victory in a row

In the Bundesliga only mediocrity at the moment, in the EuroLeague on the run: German champion Brose Bamberg celebrated his third victory in a row on the international stage four days after the Bundesliga home defeat of Alba Berlin.

At Serbia’s top club Roter Stern Belgrade, Andrea Trinchieri’s team surprisingly won 75:69 (43:34) and overcame their former equal-point rival in the standings. In the fifth international comparison, it was Bamberg’s first win against the 17 times Serbian national champion.

In the previous week, Bamberg had already won the EuroLeague matches against Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz (78:72) from Spain and the EuroCup winner Unicaja Malaga (80:76). In the Bundesliga, on the other hand, Bamberg is only in ninth place after six matchdays.

Bamberg kept a cool head in the witch’s cauldron of the Belgrade Kombank Arena and, after a first-quarter quarter with an outstanding quota of 75 percent of converted throws from the field, was 30:18 in front. The Upper Franconians then defended the lead deep into the last quarter and remained nervous when Belgrade reached two and a half minutes before the end of the match, reaching two points for the first time.

A key factor proved to be the hard defence of the guests, which repeatedly forced Belgrade’s strong shooters Taylor Rochestie and Milko Bjelica to make emergencies. Top scorer on the Bamberg side was Augustine Rubit (13 points), Ricky Hickman (12) and Leon Radosevic (10) also scored double-digit. Taylor Rochestie scored 22 points near Belgrade.