Some things are easier said than done like if Argentine striker Lionel Messi predicts 10 goals in the next classic FC Barcelona against Real Madrid, New England Patriot Tom Brady saying that he will never lose another Superbowl to the New York Giants and arch nemesis Eli Manning, Lebron James predicting three NBA titles in a row or Paris Hilton never checking into a HIlton hotel again. For the Fraport Skyliners to win in Bamberg seems more like a dream than ever happening in reality as the last time the Skyliners won a regular season game in freak city, NBA superstar Kevin Durant was a tenth grader at the well known Oak Hill academy, Tom Brady only had one Superbowl ring and teen singing sensation Justin Bieber was only nine years old. The last time that the Fraport Skyliners were able to depart the floor in Bamberg as the winner in a regular season game  was January 18^th, 2004. It was the bests coring game of ex Skyliner Tyrone Ellis who recently announced his retirement dropping 32 points and nailing nine three pointers. Ex NBA player Mario Kasun was also on that team. Ex Skyliner Max Weber was an 18 year old kid on the Bamberg team that made a point and grabbed a rebound against his future team. Coming into the game, The Frankfurt Skyliners had lost the last eight regular season games and after a slow start, no one was really expecting anything from them, but they gave  a spirited effort keeping the first half close, but then losing some focus in the third quarter as the Brose Baskets Bamberg was able to take control of the game and win 76-67. It isn´t only the team that opponents have to contend with in trying to crawl out of the Stechert arena with a win, but also the noisy arena and loud fans. Skyliner Quantez Robertson played his tenth game in Bamberg and is still overwhelmed by the difficulty of playing there. “This is one of the hardest places to play at. It is always difficult to hear the point guard calling the plays, but you just have to play through it”, stressed Quantez Robertson. For new Skyliner Ted Scott, it was his first experience in Bamberg that he won´t forget so fast. “This is a very tough place to play in, because the crowd never lets up. It was one of the toughest places that I have played in, because the crowd is so involved. It seemed like they helped with some of the calls. I felt comfortable on the court, but was a little annoyed that I couldn´t find my three point shot as well”, added Fraport Skyliner guard Ted Scott.

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After suffering a humiliating 85-58 loss in the Champions Cup 18 days ago, The Deutsche Bank Skyliners wanted to escape the memory of this Bamberg offense firing range the same way the Miami Dolphins did losing 62-7 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2000, the 1988 Baltimore Orioles losing their first 21 games in a row or the Miami Heat losing 148-80 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1991 which could of started fans covering their faces with bags and Frankfurt were a lot stronger than their last visit to the Steckert arena, but had their usual woes not being able to get by the 2010 BEKO BBL champion in the fourth quarter as they gave up a 16-2 run which was fuelled by three straight drawn fouls by Anton Gavel to end the game losing 71-62. Frankfurt has only won once in Bamberg in almost six and a half years and might have had that same feeling as actor Mickey Rourke was having when he was finally going to have success again all those years prior to the Wrestler movie being a success. “We knew coming in that this would be a very difficult game. Frankfurt was banged up in the first game and came back a new team with two new players and more confidence. They fought very hard and we won, but it wasn´t easy. The way Frankfurt came back to play better in this game from that 27 point loss last time was like a boxer who lost that first round, but came back in the next fight with more motivation to prove that they are better than their last loss. The whole Bamberg/Frankfurt history and the fact that they played each other so many times in the last year reminds me of the great rivalry of Ali and Joe Frazier”, stressed Bamberg American Kyle Hines. It was obvious by the fierceness of Frankfurt that they wanted to make amends for the Champions Cup loss. “The players had talked about the Champions Cup and were all disappointed, but didn´t want to dwell on that loss to much, but just be focused and I think that we showed that we could compete tonight and almost won”, added Skyliner Canadian national player Jermaine Bucknor.

ChampiosCup Highlights

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