Brose Baskets rally for vital road win at Partizan
Brose Baskets Bamberg rallied from an 8-point fourth quarter deficit to record a huge 72-77 away win at Partizan mt:s Belgrade on Friday night. This victory puts the German champions into sole possession of fourth place in Turkish Airlines Euroleague Group D with a 2-3 record, while Partizan stays winless after five games played. Bamberg trailed for most of the night after the hosts took control of the game with a 15-2 second-quarter run, but the margin never reached double figures. After the visitors held Partizan without a field goal for more than seven minutes in the fourth quarter, Anton Gavel scored 7 points in a 0-11 run in the final two minutes of the game to complete Bamberg’s comeback for an important victory. Bostjan Nachbar led visitors with game-high 19 points, Casey Jacobsen scored 18 on 9-for-9 free throw shooting. Teddy Gipson added 13 points and Gavel finished with 9 for Bamberg. On the other end, Vladimir Lucic and Djordje Gagic each scored 17 points – Gagic also had 7 rebounds – and Drew Gordon finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds in defeat.
First quarter: Defenses set tone early
Nachbar opened the scoring from downtown for Bamberg, while on the other side Lucic scored inside and assisted Drew Gordon for an alley-oop layup to put the hosts on the scoreboard. Maik Zirbes and Gipson scored from close range, while Nachbar and again Gipson sunk long jumpers. Partizan stayed within 1 point with baskets from Dragan Milosavljevic and Torey Thomas. A Davis Bertans triple made it 12-12. The visitors switched to zone defense, which held Partizan to only one basket, a fastbreak dunk by Dejan Musli, but the hosts also allowed only one field goal in almost five minutes. In the final minute of the quarter, though, Gordon scored inside and Nachbar hit a jumper to make it a 16-16 tie after one quarter.
Second quarter: Partizan takes control with 12-0 run
Musli scored a layup to put Partizan up at the beginning of the second quarter, but back-to-back-to-back triples, one from Karsten Tadda and two from Gipson, gave the visitors a 20-25 lead. However, Gagic stepped up with 8 consecutive points – including couple of three-point-plays – and Lucic made a steal and raced for a fastbreak dunk in a 12-0 run that put Partizan in front 32-25. Zirbes had a put-back to snap the run, but Lucic hit a triple from the right corner as the hosts extended their lead to 9. Nachbar scored twice more inside, but Danilo Andjusic hit a triple for Partizan and Lucic beat the buzzer with a put-back for 41-33 halftime advantage.
Third quarter: The hosts keep Bamberg at a safe distance
Zirbes hit a shot inside to start the scoring in the third quarter and before throwing down a dunk in addition to Jacobsen’s basket-plus-foul to quickly bring Bamberg within 42-40. After Gordon and Gavel traded baskets inside, Bertans and Lucic made spectacular dunks and Gordon had couple of blocked shots to keep Partizan in front. Nachbar kept Bamberg within a single possession with couple of jumpers, but Leo Westermann hit a triple and Gordon made a long jumper in a spurt that pushed the lead back to 9 points, 57-48. Sharrod Ford and Gipson kept the visitors in range, while Musli made a hook shot that secured Partizan a 62-55 advantage after three quarters.
Fourth quarter: Defense and Anton Gavel take Bamberg to victory
Jacobsen hit a three-pointer from the left corner to cut the deficit to 62-58, however those were Bamberg’s only points in the opening four minutes of the fourth quarter. Gordon and Lucic extended the lead to 8 points, but Bamberg was not going away, with its defense keeping it in the game before drives from Nachbar and Jacobsen as well as a layup from Ford got it to 68-64. Holding Partizan without a field goal for more than seven minutes, Bamberg tied the game at 70-70 with a three-point-play and a triple from Gavel, while Ford’s monster dunk put Bamberg up 70-72 in the final minute. Nachbar added 2 free throws to make it a 4-point game with 20 seconds to go and then he stole the ball on the ensuing inbounds pass to seal the deal for the German champions. In the final seconds, Gagic’s layup gave the hosts some hope, but Jacobsen’s steady hand from the foul line erased any doubt.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Euroleague.net