Brose Baskets rocked Real Madrid 82-75

Brose Baskets gave its fans a goodbye treat in this Turkish Airlines Euroleague season by downing Real Madrid 82-75 in Group B in Bamberg, Germany on Wednesday night. Brose, that had run out of chances to reach the Top 16, pleased its fans with its third home win this season in their last Euroleague game at Freak City before going back to defend its German League title. Madrid, that had already qualified to the next round, dropped to 5-4 and joins a three-way tie with Unicaja and Lottomatica Roma for second place, one win behind Group B leader Olympiacos, first at 6-3. Predrag Suput paced the winners with 21 points. Casey Jacobsen added 14, Anton Gavel and Reyshawn Terry each had 13 while Kyle Hines got 10 for Brose. Sergio Llull led Madrid with 16 points. D'or Fischer added 15 and 14 rebounds, Jorge Garbajosa had 14 points while Carlos Suarez got 10 for the guests, that rallied with a 15-point deficit to get within 69-65 midway through the fourth quarter. Gavel and Suput struck from downtown in crunch time to make Brose seal a well-deserved, convincing road win.

Felipe Reyes got Madrid going with an easy layup but a coast-to-coast basket by Suput tied it at 2-2. Ante Tomic found Suarez for an easy basket but back-to-back triples by Suput and Gavel gave Brose an 8-4 lead. Suarez kept pacing Madrid with a put-back layup but Gavel bettered that with a three-point play while a long jumper by Suput sent the crowd to their feet at 13-6. Garbajosa stepped up with a second-chance jumper and Clay Tucker hit free throws to bring Madrid within 13-10. Brose improved its defense late in the first quarter while Terry followed free throws with a three-pointer to boost the hosts' lead to 18-10. Llull answered from downtown and soon added foul shots to keep Madrid within 18-15. Terry and Fischer traded free throws to fix the score at 20-17 after 10 minutes.

Terry kept pacing Brose with free throws early in the second quarter that Tucker erased with an outstanding fallaway jumper. Madrid had improved its defense and had started to find open shots but the guests' shooters were off-target now. Fischer scored down low but Jacobsen bettered that with a three-pointer for a 25-21 Brose lead. Suput shined with back-to-back jumpers to help the hosts to restore a 29-21 margin. Llull split free throws and Garbajosa nailed a jumper in transition to give Madrid some hope at 29-24. Suput stayed on fire with an unbelievable turnaround jumper that Llull erased with an acrobatic basket. Tomic took over with a power basket and a three-pointer by Garbajosa tied it at 31-31. Hines, John Goldsberry and Jacobsen rescued Brose with free throws to give their team some fresh air, 37-31, at halftime.

Suput banked in a turnaround jumper right after the break but Llull buried a four-meter shot to keep Madrid within 39-33. Tibor Pleiss took over with an alleyoop dunk but free throws by Reyes and Fischer made it a four-point game, 41-37. Llull kept pacing Madrid with a mid-range jumper but a dunk by Hines and free throws by Terry restored a 45-39 Brose lead. Madrid struggled to score now while a jumper by Terry and a corner triple by Jacobsen broke the game open, 50-39, after an 8-0 run. Suarez silenced the crowd with a corner jumper that Brian Roberts matched in the other end. Nikola Mirotic tried to change things with a layup-plus-foul but Jacobsen erased with a big triple in transition. Tomic scored around the basket but Hines beat him in the low post. Jacobsen - who else? - struck againt from downtown and a fast break layup by Gavel set the crowd on fire, 62-47. Suarez scored in the paint and a layup by Fischer got Madrid within 62-51 after 30 minutes.

Fischer had his third block and had a layup-plus-foul in the other end early in the fourth quarter. Goldsberry struck from way downtown but a jumper by Garbajosa kept Madrid within 65-56. Pleiss had fouled out already and Fischer stayed on fire with a put-back dunk. Madrid was all over the place in defense and a jumper by Tucker brought the guests even closer, 65-60. Hines provided a highlight with a huge one-handed put-back slam that Fischer matched with an easy basket. Gavel made foul shots but Garbajosa nailer a triple to keep Madrid in the game, 69-65. Hines and Tucker traded baskets but Gavel nailed a corner three-pointer that boosted the hosts' lead to 74-67. Garbajosa banked in a running jumper that Suput improved with an open triple, good for a 77-69 Brose lead with 3 minutes left. Suarez hit free throws but a three-pointer by Suput sealed the outcome, 80-71, as all Brose fans in Freak City celebrating their team's last Turkish Airlines Euroleague home win this season!