Basketball: Bullets bounce back after Bucknall move
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Your support makes all the difference.Birmingham Bullets shook off their loss of Steve Bucknall, and their disappointing domestic form, to defeat Fribourg, of Switzerland, 62-53 at the Aston Events Centre in the European Champions' Cup last night.
Bullets top the Western Conference with three wins out of four, but face the rest of the season without the veteran Bucknall, who has returned to play in Greece for the third time in his career, having also played in Italy, France and Germany.
Against Fribourg, the Bullets trailed 44-41 after a nine-point burst from Matthew Baniack, but three-pointers from Mike Redd and Kyle Rolston plus six points in a row from Michael Jackson steered them 57-49 ahead.
Bucknall's departure was not a surprise to Garbelotto, but the Bullets will now have to haul themselves off bottom place in the BBL Championship without the 6ft 6in forward. Garbelotto accepted that Bucknall was using the Bullets to showcase his talents in the Champions' Cup, and said: "Steve has been open about the arrangement right for the start and we knew what we were getting into.
"We've appreciated having him here and it would have been good to have kept him a while longer. But I respect him and wish him well."
The Bullets' schedule is so hectic that Bucknall played in seven games in 14 days including two wins in the Champions' Cup and one each in the National Cup and BBL Trophy. But they lost all three in the BBL Championships and tonight they travel to Crystal Palace to face London Towers, incensed that their opponents insisted on scheduling the game 24 hours after Garbelotto's men had played in the Champions' Cup.
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