GHP Bamberg 77 BC Kyiv 73

Bamberg closed the qualifying round of the FIBA Europe League without their outstanding inside force Chris Ensminger but won a thrilling game againd BC Kiev with 77-73.

At the beginning neither team showed their best shooting skills, but after some minutes GHP clearly got the better start and earned an early 18-8 lead. Nevertheless the Ukrainian champion close the quarter with an impressive 14-0 run inspired by Andriy Lebedyev and made an the score 18-22.

The second period was quite equal, Bamberg looked to Lativan Uvis Helmanis with his typical inside-outside game and he scored 14 points in the first 20 minutes. But that wasn´t enough to take the lead, because John Celestand took control on offence for the guest from eastern europe. The result was an 39-43 lead for the Ukraine side.

It seemed head coach Dirk Bauermann found the right words for his squad. Bamberg began the second half with much more energy. Kiev continued to play on a high level and so it developed into a really good game of basketball in the 3rd period which ended 59-57 with a corner three-point shot from Geert Kullamae.

The last minutes were a complete mirror of the whole game. The score was tight and it was two inside baskets by center Mike Nahar after assists from point guard Steffen Hamann, and a huge distance shot from Rick Stafford which gave Bamberg a 73-65 lead with 3 minutes to go.

Kiev forced the home team to a couple of turnovers but missing some freethows from the line. So they weren´t able turn the game around and it was fourty year old Derrick Taylor who made the decisive basket for Bamberg 10 seconds before the game ended. The final score was 77-73.