Brose hangs tough for first victory over Barcelona!

Brose Baskets Bamberg took its first victory ever against FC Barcelona Lassa by 74-70 in the Game of the Week on Thursday to retain one of the best home records in the Euroleague this season. Bamberg improved to 3-2 in Group F and will share third or fourth place at week's end. Barcelona dropped to 2-4, marking the first time in more than a decade that it has lost four Top 16 games. A 13-2 run over 6 minutes of the fourth quarter broke the game open and featured 2 blocks by Nicolo Melli and 5 points from Janis Strelnieks, who led the winners with 16 points. Darius Miller added 15 points. Daniel Theis scored 11 and pulled 8 rebounds, while Melli had 9 and 7, respectively. Justin Doellman paced Barcelona with 19 points, while Pau Ribas and Alex Abrines added 10 each as Barcelona came back from 68-54 down with 3 minutes left to make it close. Bamberg improved its home record in the Euroleague this season to 6-1, its only loss having come to CSKA Moscow, another Group F rival.

First quarter: Barcelona shuts out Bamberg for final 4:29

Barcelona coach Xavi Pascual kept his regular starting five, with Tomas Satoransky, Juan Carlos Navarro, Stratos Perperoglou, Justin Doellman and Ante Tomic. Bamberg coach Andrea Trinchieri made one change to his starting line-up, with Elias Harris taking the spot for Leon Radosevic alongside Brad Wanamaker, Nikos Zisis, Darius Miller and Nicolo Melli. Doellman started the game with a three-pointer that Harris answered at the other end with a big dunk to get the crowd into the game. Harris continued his strong start by keeping alive a miss, getting the subsequent offensive rebound, too, putting it back and completing the three-point play to even the score at 5-5. Barcelona got a three-ball from Navarro and a jumper from Doellman before Bamberg took its first lead 11-10 on layups by Zisis and Melli. After a TV timeout, Daniel Theis came on for Bamberg and threw down a dunk to make it 13-10. Perperoglou and Doellman followed with jumpers and Samardo Samuels hit 2 free throws as Barcelona nosed ahead 13-17. Bamberg failed to score during seven possessions over the final 4:29 of the first quarter, letting Barcelona hold the same 13-17 advantage after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Bamberg uses 10-0 run to take lead

Janis Strelnieks stopped the hosts' scoreless stretch by drilling the first shot attempt of the second quarter, a three-pointer, to get Bamberg to within 16-17. Shane Lawal was fed an alley-oop and Ribas nailed a three-ball and baseline jumper, however, to push Barcelona's advantage up to 18-24. Bamberg was able to put together some defensive stops and went ahead 26-24 on back-to-back three-pointers from Wanamaker and Melli, forcing a Barcelona timeout. Bamberg got another stop and Harris tipped in a Wanamaker miss to extend the lead to 28-24. Doellman's layup ended Bamberg's 10-0 run and Satoransky evened the game at 28-28. After Melli and Doellman swapped 2 free throws each, Miller nailed a three-pointer to push Bamberg ahead 33-30. Samuels got space in the paint for a Barcelona basket, but Harris scored again inside just before the buzzer as Bamberg went up 35-32 at the break.

Third quarter: Bamberg nails 4 three-pointers to remain ahead

Satoransky opened the second half by trimming the difference to 35-34. Strelnieks got Bamberg on the board with a three-pointer but Abrines answered right back with a three-ball of his own to make it 38-37. Doellman did his best to keep Barcelona close with a dunk after picking up a loose ball and then a jumper, but Miller followed a hook shot and three-pointer from Theis with a triple of his own from the left corner and the Bamberg advantage was 48-41. After a timeout, Strelnieks got the Bamberg offense rolling with a driving layup for a 50-41 advantage. Barcelona scored 4 straight points before a MIller three-ball re-established an eight-point lead 53-45. Aleksandar Vezenkov nailed a three-pointer from the left corner and Navarro got a running jumper to fall at the buzzer as Barcelona closed the gap to 53-50 after 30 minutes.

Fourth quarter: Bamberg takes control with 13-2 run

Miller and Tomic started the fourth quarters with baskets for their teams as Bamberg stayed up 55-52. Melli came up big defensively with a steal and block on successive possessions and his teammates picked him up offensively as Strelnieks nailed a jumper and Zisis drained a three-pointer to extend the advantage to 60-52 with 7 minutes to play. Doellman ended a three-minute scoreless stretch for Barcelona with a layup at 60-54, but that proved a lonely basket for the guests. After a Bamberg time out, Strelnieks converted a layup and Miller followed with his own after a spin move as the lead swelled to 64-54 with 4 minutes to go. A Barcelona timeout did not help as Miller followed with 2 free throws and Wanamaker made it 68-54. Barcelona fought hard to get back into the game as Satoransky downed free throws and Ribas fall-away jumper to get within 68-58. Melli and Abrines swapped 2 free throws each but Bamberg still led by 10 points with 1:13 minutes to play. Doellman's 2 foul shots cut the gap to 70-62 and Ribas nailed a triple to get Barcelona within 70-65 with 15.5 seconds left. But Strelnieks and Theis converted 2 free throws each in the final 14.9 seconds to secure the win.