GER - Alba end Bamberg's winning streak in Germany

BERLIN (BBL) - Germany BBL leaders Alba Berlin won at Brose Baskets Bamberg on Sunday to capture their eighth-straight victory.

Chris Owens had 15 points and 16 rebounds and Julius Jenkins added 15 points and four assists as Alba, who have 24 triumphs and five setbacks in the league, prevailed 68-65 to to end Bamberg’s nine-game winning streak.

German international Johannes Herber's jumper with 34 seconds gave the guests a 66-63 lead. Bamberg's Robert Garrett and Steffen Hamann - also German national team players - and Owens and Koko Archibong from Berlin all split two free throws down the stretch, leaving Berlin ahead 68-65 with 13 seconds left.

Casey Jacobsen, who led Bamberg with 14 points, missed a three-point attempt with eight seconds left and Vincent Yarbrough failed to connect on his desperation three to secure an Alba victory.

"It was a very hard-fought game and we made a lot of good decisions. Our press really brought Bamberg out of rhythm, and Julius Jenkins and Chris Owens gave the game several good impulses," said Alba coach Henrik Rodl.

Bamberg led by eight with seven minutes left until the visitors used a 16-6 run to grab the lead 62-60. Jacobsen made one foul shot to make it 64-63 before Herber's big jumper over Hamann.

"We led for 35 minutes, but we couldn't create the separation in the critical stages and a number of balls just bounced out of the basket. Berlin also made some very big shots," said Bamberg coach Dirk Bauermann, whose team remained in third place at 20-9.

EnBW Ludwigsburg remained in second place - 22-7 - and two games behind Berlin after a convincing 104-75 victory at sellbytel Baskets Nurnberg - paced by Je'Kel Foster's 22 points.

Nurnberg dropped 4.5 games from the non-relegation zone with a 5-25 record.

Mladjen Sljivancanin scored 22 points off the bench for defending champions RheinEnergie Koln in a strong 84-70 home win against neighbours Telekom Baskets Bonn.

Koln pulled even with Bamberg at 20-9 but are fourth in the standings. And Bonn, led by Tyray Pearson's 12 points and 13 rebounds off the bench, dropped to 19-11 but remained in fifth place.

Eisbaren Bremerhaven are 18-11 in sixth place following their 86-77 victory at TBB Trier as Zygimantas Jonusas led the way with 16 points.

Trier, who had James Gillingham score 20 points, dropped to 10-19.

With five games remaining in the league, the final two play-off spots are up for grabs for six teams who have either 15-14 or 14-15 records.

Ratiopharm Ulm pulled into seventh place at 15-14 after Jeff Gibbs had 20 points and 15 rebounds in a 101-83 home win against last placed Karlsruhe, who extended their losing streak to 24 games at 2-27.

Dan Grunfeld had 31 points and Desmond Penigar added 21 points and 12 rebounds for EWE Baskets Oldenburg, who beat Bayer Giants Leverkusen 81-80 at home to move into the final play-off spot.

Both teams are 15-14 and Leverkusen are ninth despite 28 points from Derrick Allen.

Artland Dragons are also 15-14 but dropped their seventh game over the last nine to fall to 10th place after a 75-58 loss at Walter Tigers Tubingen, who remained in the play-offs hunt at 14-15 thanks to 18 points from AJ Moye.

The final team in the race for the play-offs is Deutsche Bank Skyliners, who fell to 14-15 after losing 62-60 at home to Giessen 46ers, who are 9-20 on the year.

The Skyliners are 2-6 over the last eight games.

David Hein
FIBA