GER - Hall gives Dragons upper hand

BERLIN (BBL) - The Artland Dragons' dream post-season moved onto its next chapter on Sunday with Darius Hall tipping in a missed lay-up at the buzzer as the number eight seeds stole home court advantage from Brose Baskets Bamberg with a 70-69 victory.

Hall's heroics were made possible when Vincent Yarbrough made just one of two foul shots with 7.5 seconds left to give Bamberg a 69-68 lead.

"Of course we're thrilled to have won and taken over home court advantage. But this series isn't over yet," said Artland coach Chris Fleming, whose team swept regular season
champions Alba Berlin in the quarter-finals and knocked out the reigning champions RheinEnergie Koln 3-2 in the semis.

"I think we saw the best two teams German basketball has to offer. We were slightly ahead after three quarters and played big down the stretch," he added.

The two teams face off on Thursday in Quakenbruck for Game Two.
Artland's road victory didn't come without a setback though as Puerto Rica playmaker Filiberto Rivera pulled his right groin at the end of the third quarter and needed to be stretchered off the court.

After the game, he limped out of the Bamberg arena and said: "I just pulled it really bad. I'm going to the doctor to see what it is. I'd say there's about a 20% chance I'll play on Thursday."

Fleming said: "Sure he's a player who gives us a lot. But we may just have to learn how to play without him. But we've played all season with the odd player out injured."

Rivera, who averaged 17 points in each of the first two series, scored a team-high 16 points and added four assists and two steals. Bryan Bailey added 12 points off the bench while Chad Prewitt had 11 and Lamont McIntosh chipped in 10 points.

Casey Jacobsen led Bamberg with 18 points while Yarbrough had 15 and Darren Fenn collected 13 points and 10 rebounds. Steffen Hamann added nine points and nine assists.

The 2005 champions Bamberg - making their fourth finals appearance in the past five seasons - dominated the boards with 40 rebounds to Artland's 30. But Dirk Bauermann's team
made just four of 23 three-pointers (17%).

"They were the better team in the first half, and we were the better team in the second half. You have to be pleased with the morale and performance of the team," said Bauermann.

"We just have to get over this loss - as painful as it is. You don't win a series in just one game. We had the same thing in the first series against Telekom Baskets Bonn (a 3-2 series win)."

Artland led 48-39 midway through the third and were still ahead 63-57 with seven minutes left in the game. Jacobsen scored two baskets and Tim Begley's three-pointer gave Bamberg their first lead of the game - 64-63.

A Yarbrough dunk made it 68-65 with 2:55 remaining. Bailey made three foul shots to even the game before Jacobsen and Prewitt both missed three-pointers, setting up Yarbrough's miss at the charity stripe.

On the final possession, Bailey drove hard into the lane and put up a lay-up attempt, which was off-target but tipped in at the buzzer by Hall, who finished the game with seven points and six rebounds.

"We always seemed just one possession from pulling away. If we had made both free throws then we would have fouled and had the final possession. But that's how basketball works sometimes," said Bauermann.

Dave Hein
FIBA