Skonto 67 GHP Bamberg 75

Steady nerves and solid free throw shooting down the stretch allowed GHP Bamberg to complete the “double” over Latvian side Skonto. After winning comfortably at home, Bamberg pulled out a 67:75 win which takes them one step closer to the play-offs.

In the first contest between the 2 sides, Bamberg ran away with the game in the 1st quarter, outscoring Skonto 25:9. They threatened to repeat the onslaught in the second game and they raced away to a 0:6 advantage.

This time, however, Skonto held their nerve to pull back to level the score and even take a small lead, which reached 19:14 at the end of the first quarter.

Skonto continued to pull away in the 2nd quarter as Dametri Hill and Darren Kelly combined for 6 points to take the score to 25:20. Bamberg rallied through center Chris Ensingmner and Estonian forward Gert Kullamäe and pulled level at the half, 35:35.

The game stayed close in the 3rd quarter. A Rick Stafford three-pointer for Bamberg was the only difference between the 2 sides, and going into the 4th quarter, the Germans held a 54:56 advantage.

With 6:15 to go in the game, Bamberg broke away through Ensminger and another 3-pointer from Stafford. Stafford’s triple gave Bamberg a 5-point advantage at 60:65 and forced Skonto to take a timeout.

Bamberg held their lead and although Skonto came back to 67:71 after a 3-pointer from Kelly, the home team were forced to foul. Unfortunately for Skonto, Bamberg have veteran guard Derrick Taylor on their team. The 40-year old hit 6/6 free throws (he is shooting 88.9% for the season) and Bamberg held on for victory.

Jason Sasser top scored for Bamberg with 23 points, while Ensminger added 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Darren Kelly led all scorers with 24 points and Hill had 22.

Quotes Skonto Riga - GHP Bamberg

Dirk Bauermann, Head Coach, GHP Bamberg:

“First of all I would like to thank our hosts for their great patience and for carrying about us. We knew well that the game will be hard, but we didn’t expect it to be so tough. The last weeks we traveled a lot and it caused problems for us – we now are tired. The start was too excellent for us and we believed too fast that we got the game in our hands. Skonto’s Americans played perfectly and they didn’t do what we expected them to do.”

Guntis Endzels, Head Coach, Skonto Riga:

“It was a great game for the people, but the result wasn’t as great for us. The whole game the outcome was open. It was a deficit for us that Biedrins couldn’t play. Then we lost Sirsnins due to injury, which made it even tougher. Too many mistakes at the end gave the win to Bamberg.”