Ballers lose in Bamberg

Stechert Arena, Bamberg - FC Bayern Basketball lost its sixth consecutive game on the road, this time to the Brose Baskets 89-77.

Anthony Tucker scored 23 points and Casey Jacobsen added 18 points by hitting on all 10 of his free-throws to lead the Baskets.  Munich were led by captain Steffen Hamann's 18 points and 8 assists.  Jared Homan scored 17 points and grabbed 8 rebounds but it was not enough to beat the defending Beko BBL champs.

The difference in the game was the second quarter, Bayern were outscored 28-9.  It was sloppy phase for the visitors, shooting 4-for-13 including two shots blocked, and four turnovers.  Bamberg went on a 10-0 run to take over the lead, and then outscored Munich 11-3 the rest of the quarter to build their cushion that they would coast to the win.

"We knew this would be a difficult game to win," admitted Bayern head coach Dirk Bauermann.  "But I think the guys showed great resolve.  They lost in a heart-breaker in Ulm three days ago and came back extremely strong and played very well. I’m proud of those guys."

"The game was like we thought," agreed Brose head coach Chris Fleming regarding the difficulty of the opponent.  "We were able to make a big step forward in the second quarter and to take a comfortable lead and to get the victory."

Bayern's second consecutive loss drops them not only down to 10th in the standings, but eliminated any chance to compete in the league's Champions Cup.  Now Munich will have to concentrate on getting back on the winning side and qualify for the playoffs.

FCB are back home to the friendly confines of the Audi Dome on Saturday, January 14th as they host the EWE Baskets Oldenburg.  Tip-off is at 19:00 CET.

David Hein and Simone Sperduto contributed to this article.