GER - Bamberg claim title in Germany

QUAKENBRUCK (BBL) - Brose Baskets Bamberg captured their second German BBL crown in three years on Tuesday by ending the fairytale run of Artland Dragons with a 64-63 victory on the road to clinch the Finals series 3-1.

Bamberg's Casey Jacobsen was named Most Valuable Player of the Finals, but German national team guard Robert Garrett proved the X-factor for Bamberg in Quakenbruck, collecting a team-high 16 points in 18 minutes off the bench.

"We are just so relieved. This team is so strong and I'm just happy I was able to help them out," said Garrett, who had scored just six points in the first three games of the BBL Finals.

Bamberg, whose other title came in 2005, nearly blew a 10-point lead with less than two minutes remaining, but Lamont McIntosh missed a lay-up and Chad
Prewitt an offensive rebound put-back attempt in the final three seconds.

During the celebrations, Bamberg coach Dirk Bauermann said: "There's nothing better than a champagne shower from players who earned this so much. They never gave up all season and always believed in themselves."

Bauermann collected his ninth German league crown following seven with Bayer Leverkusen in the 1990s and the 2005 title with Bamberg.

Game Four came down to the wire just like the first three - with the four contests being decided by a total of eight points.

Behind seven points from Adam Hess, Artland opened a 10-point first quarter lead before seeing Bamberg's second unit get the team back into the game with a 10-0 run to even things at 20-20 two minutes into the second period.

The Dragons were ahead 33-32 at the break but struggled against the tough Bamberg defence in the third quarter.

Bamberg missed their first 13 three-pointers until Steffen Hamann's long bomb with 3:41 remaining in the period for a 41-36 lead.

Garrett also hit one to give Bamberg a 46-41 bulge going into the fourth. He would hit two more treys in the final quarter to push Bamberg ahead 61-53 with 2:48 left.

The lead was up to 10 points - 63-53 - on Casey Jacobsen's foul shots with 1:57 remaining.

But Prewitt buried a three-pointer followed by an inside basket and long-range bomb from Hess, which trimmed the deficit to 64-61 with 57 seconds left.

After a Bamberg turnover, Bryan Bailey made two free throws with 31 seconds to play. Jacobsen missed a lay-up with seven seconds left before both McIntosh and Prewitt failed to keep the Dragons' miracle run going.

Jacobsen and K'Zell Wesson each added 10 points for the champions, with Wesson also grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.

Germany's 18-year-old center Tim Ohlbrecht chipped in seven points, three rebounds and one blocked shot in 15 minutes of action

Hess scored a game-high 21 points - after collecting 12 points in the first three games, but Artland were held to just 32% shooting (18-of-57).

Bailey had 15 points and Prewitt added 13 in a losing cause.

With the championship, Bamberg will play next season in the Euroleague while Artland have qualified for the ULEB Cup after sweeping regular season champions and top seeds Alba Berlin in the quarter-finals and dethroning title-holders RheinEnergie Koln in the semis.

Dave Hein
FIBA