Sanders, Harris lead Bamberg to key home win

Brose Baskets Bamberg improved its chances of advancing to the Eurocup Eighthfinals by beating BCM Gravelines Dunkerque 70-59 at home on Wednesday. Bamberg took over second place in Group J with a 3-2 record and will travel to play third-place Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari (2-3) next week. A victory or a defeat by 10 or fewer points against Sassari would be sufficient for Bamberg to advance to the next round. With the loss, Gravelines fell to 1-4 and was eliminated. Wednesday's game was balanced until halftime, after which Bamberg used a 11-2 run to finish the third quarter ahead 58-42 and guard its advantage to the finish. Rakim Sanders tallied 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals for the winners. Elias Harris added 13 points and D'or Fischer 10 for Bamberg. The only player to score in double figures for Gravelines was Yakhouba Diawara, with16 points, while Ousmane Camara posted 9 points and pulled down 9 boards.

Diawara's layup and triple gave an early 8-15 lead to the French side, but Brose recovered quickly, tying at 17-17 on John Goldsberry's shot from long distance, and then taking the lead with a dunk by Fischer. Novica Velickovic beat the first-quarter buzzer to put the hosts ahead 21-18. A three-point-play by Marcus Lewis soon tie the score again, 23-23 before Diawara's easy layup off his own steal put Gravelines in front again. A put-back by Harris capped a 10-0 response by Bamberg, goo for a 33-25 advantage. John Holland helped Gravelines stay close at 36-32, but a three-pointer by Harris let Bamberg lead 39-34 at halftime. Fischer's jumper from the top of the key shortly after halftime gave Bamberg its first double-digit margin, 47-37. Yannick Bokolo hit a three-pointer for the guests, but an 11-2 run highlighted by back-to-back dunks from Sanders and Fischer gave Bamberg a comfortable 58-42 cushion after 30 minutes. Jamar Smith's jumper soon raised the difference to 66-48, although Steven Gray and Cyril Akpomedah combined for 9 consecutive points to try to keep Gravelines alive. Those cut the margin to 66-55 with less than 3 minutes left, not enough time to complete the comeback as a huge dunk by Harris sealed the win and put Bamberg in the driver's seat for a place in the eighthfinals.