Lottomatica Roma over Brose Baskets 67-68

Lottomatica Roma took a big step to advancing to the Top 16 of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague with a 67-68 victory at Brose Baskets in Group B. Charles Smith nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to push Roma to 3-3 in the group, while Brose dropped to 2-4 with two losses against Lottomatica. Smith scored 16 points on 4 three-pointers while Darius Washington collected 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Vladimir Dasic added 9 points and 7 rebounds for the winning side. Brose Baskets was led by 15 points from Casey Jacobsen with Brian Roberts adding 13 points including a three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left. Kyle Hines chipped in 11 points for Bamberg, which next plays at Olympiacos. Roma’s next game is at home against Spirou Charleroi.

Bamberg was without starting power forward Predrag Suput, who had an upper leg injury and was replaced by Reyshawn Terry. The game started with Andrea Crosariol hitting inside for Roma. A Tibor Pleiss free throw put Brose on the scoreboard at 1-2. Luigi Datome nailed a triple for a 1-5 Lottomatica lead and the host side struggled early on, missing its first 4 shots and committing 2 turnovers until Casey Jacobsen’s three-ball to trim the margin to 4-5. Datome nailed a second trey and Josh Heytvelt came in for a baseline jumper before two layups by Darius Washington finished off a 0-12 run for the guests and a 4-17 advantage. Brose coach Chris Fleming brought in Hines and Roberts, but nothing worked, including Terry missing 2 free throws. John Goldsberry made 2 foul shots to snap the Roma surge and Robert hit 2 from the stripe after a technical foul before Hines’s free throw cut the deficit to 9-17. Nihad Djedovic gave Lottomatica a 10-point lead after one quarter with a driving layup just before the buzzer with Roma leading 9-19. Bamberg happily put the first quarter to bed after hitting just 1 of 11 from the field, 6 of 10 free throws and committing 6 turnovers.

As bad as things were in the first quarter they were good in the second for Brose with center Pleiss starting the quarter with a three-pointer from the right corner and bring Brose to within 12-19. A Washington driving layup and Dasic put-back kept Roma ahead 14-23. Anton Gavel dropped a long jumper from the left corner to trim the margin to 18-24 before Dasic’s tip-in pushed the lead back to 8 points. Goldsberry hit a three-pointer at the end of the shot clock and Hines threw down a thunder dunk on the break as Bamberg was within 25-26. Washington’s streaking layup was then matched by Hines’s alley-oop dunk for a 27-28 Roma lead, which extended to 27-31 on a triple by Smith. Gavel answered with a three-ball of his own which would be the final score of the half with Roma leading 30-31 at the break on the road.

Gavel opened the second half with a triple to give Brose its first lead of the game at 33-31. Washington knotted the game on the next possession and Dasic answered Terry’s basket before Washington scored back-to-back hoops for a 35-39 Lottomatica advantage. After Hines evened the game at 39-39, Smith and Jacobsen traded three-pointers for a 42-42 game with four minutes left in the third period. Hines got around Crosariol to put Bamberg back in front only to see Heytvelt nail a long ball, which was matched by Jacobsen. But Smith nailed a triple of his own and a long jumper for a 47-50 Roma advantage. And Luca Vitali’s floater in the lane was followed by a Heytvelt foul shot as Lottomatica was ahead 49-53. Roberts finished off the third period with two free throws and a 51-53 Roma lead going into the fourth.

The host side opened the fourth quarter with a three-ball from the left side for a 54-53 Brose advantage. Washington temporarily gave Roma the lead back but Bamberg went up 58-55 on a Goldsberry jumper and two Roberts free throws. But Crosariol put back an offensive rebound and Washington hit a tough driving layup – only to miss the bonus free throw for a 58-59 Roma lead with four minutes left to play. Washington and Dasic both made just one of two free throws for a 58-61 Lottomatica advantage, which Jacobsen evened with a triple with three minutes left. Crosariol answered with a dunk and then Heytvelt failed to convert a three-point play for a 61-65 Roma cushion with 1:30 to play. Brose was done just yet with Jacobsen nailing a three-pointer to make it 64-65. And after Vitali missed a shot with 10 seconds left, Roberts drained a running three-ball from the top of the key with 1.9 seconds to play for a 67-65 Brose lead. The veteran Smith one-upped Bamberg with a triple at the buzzer from the right corner.