Brose Baskets Bamberg snapped a five-game losing streak with an 81-73 victory over Fenerbahce Ulker on Thursday night at the Jako Arena in Bamberg, Germany. Darren Fenn scored 21 points to lead the German champs, who improved to 2-10 this season. Meanwhile Fenerbahce lost for the first time in three games and dropped to 6-6. The Turkish champs will need to wait another week to clinch a ticket to the Top 16. Bamberg got off to a hot start, making 5 of its first 6 shots to take a lead that it never relinquished. The hosts led 23-12 after 10 minutes and cruised through the second period, however Fener came out hungry at the start of the third quarter to get within 4. Bamberg fought back and stayed comfortably ahead, eventually rebuilding a 70-58 lead in the fourth quarter. Willie Solomon never gave up hope for the visitors and guided Fener back within 3 on a driving lay-up with 35 seconds to play. However an unsportsmanlike foul on James White and a technical on Mirsad Turkcan for arguing ended Fenerbahce’s chances and gave the win to the home team. Demond Greene added 13 points for the winners, Ademola Okulaja posted 12 points and 8 rebounds and Robert Garrett finished with 10 points and 5 assists. Solomon carried Fenerbahce with 28 and 4 assists and Rasim Basak added 11 points.
Fenn opened the scoring with a layup before Gasper Vidmar evened things a second time with a dunk 4-4. Greene answered with a three-pointer for a 7-4 Bamberg lead. Solomon netted a pair of jumpers, but Bamberg knocked down 5 of its first 6 shots to pull ahead 16-12 on Fenn's triple. Both defenses began making the opposing offense work harder. Okulaja eventually drained a three-ball from the right wing and then Steffan Hamann threw down a breakaway slam dunk for a 21-12 lead, resulting in a Fenerbahce timeout with under a minute left in the quarter. Fenerbahce turned the ball over on two straight possessions, the second of which Okulaja drove home with a breakaway dunk of his own and a 23-12 lead. Basak missed a desperation three at the buzzer.
 Chris Ensminger's hook started the second for Bamberg, but Emir Preldzic's basket cut the deficit to 25-14. Garrett knocked down a long ball and Tim Ohlbrecht's foul shots gave Bamberg a 30-14 lead. Fenerbahce head coach Bogdan Tanjevic tried a zone defense to slowed down Bamberg's passing game. Omar Onan finally ended the Fenerbahce drought with a triple and then converted a breakaway layup to trim the margin to 30-19. Mithat Demirel's 2 foul shots reestablished a 13-point advantage. Another Fenn triple pushed the cushion to 36-20, but Fenerbahce used the long ball to pull closer as Basak nailed one three-pointer and Solomon went back-to-back from downtown to cut the deficit to 38-29 at the break.
Fenerbahce answered the second half bell as Onan knocked down a three and then White converted a breakaway layup, bringing Fenerbahce within 38-34. Bamberg's offense worked to find open shots, but just couldn't hit them, missing its first four shots – three of them from long range – before Bamberg called a timeout. Omer Faruk Asik threw down a dunk to make it 38-36 before the German champion finally scored on Hamann's foul shots for a 40-36 advantage. Ensminger hit a hook shot with the shot clock winding down and Greene's foul shots made it 44-37. Emir Preldzic's triple temporarily trimmed the margin to 44-40, but Okulaja and Greene both made layups Garrett made a foul shot as Fenerbahce turned the ball over three straight times, giving Bamberg a 49-40 lead. Turkcan scored inside and Solomon's foul shots brought Fenerbahce back to within 49-45. But Greene hit a three-pointer at the buzzer for a 52-45 Bamberg gap heading into the fourth.
Ensminger scored the first 3 points of the fourth period to reestablish a 10-point lead. And Greene knocked down another long ball before hitting a breakaway layup for a 60-47 Bamberg lead. But Solomon would not let Fenerbahce go down without a fight, hitting 3 three-pointers. Fenn, however, answered with three baskets of his own, including a three-pointer, as Bamberg still led 70-58 after a Garrett triple. Basak hit another three and Turkcan's basket inside cut the deficit to 70-63 with two minutes left. After Solomon and Fenn swapped foul shots, Basak drained another triple to make it a 4-point game. And Solomon cut it to 73-70 with a driving lay-up with 35 seconds to play. Hamann and Solomon swapped free throws before White was called for an unsportsmanlike foul and Turkcan was whistled for a technical foul with 19 seconds remaining. Garrett made 3 of 4 shots for a 79-73 lead, but Bamberg turned over the ball on the inbounds pass. White missed a shot inside and Mark Dickel scored a breakaway layup to finish the game 81-73.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
David Hein, Bamberg
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