Bayern triumph 90-60 force a Game 4

Home sweet Home! Contrary to all forecasts and despite major personnel worries, the Bayern basketball team has cancelled the Berlin title celebration for the time being: Head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team triumphed at Alba in front of 14,500 spectators - including club boss Herbert Hainer - after a fantastic first half.

This means that a fourth final with the chance to equalize the series will take place on Sunday at 15:00., at Munich's Audi Dome with the series now 1:2.

Tickets for Game 4

Radosevic in the hospital

Leon Radosevic has been in hospital since Wednesday due to a severe fever infection, the fourth missing starter besides Lucic and the permanently injured Hilliard and Walden. The rest, however, played out of their mindss, surprised Alba with a 21-10 start (8th) and pulled away in the second quarter.

Alba scored well on the boards but the Bayern defense allowed almost nothing from the outside until the break (1/12 threes) and controlled the rebounding (20-13). But would the light squad be enough? Yes! 67-40 (28th), 72-46 (30th) and 84-52 (35th), the troops around the top scorers Weiler-Babb (19) and Thomas (19) kept the hall in Berlin quiet.

Points per quarter Bayern - Berlin: 23-15, 29-18, 20-13, 18-14.

Stats: ZTwo-point shooting: 52% (FCBB) // 53% (Berlin); Three-point shooting: 35% // 10%; Free-throw shooting: 90% // 91%; Rebounds: 42 // 27; Assists: 18 // 14; Rebounds: 10 // 16

Quotes:      

Andrea Trinchieri: "Congratulations to my players, our backs were against the wall and we showed a very good performance. But I know exactly about the situation and I'm very realistic - I know that we just postponed the party. (...) I might be nihilistic there, but I think you could smell it: The party was there and I think that really nobody thought that we could win - except for the 50 people around my team and their families. I know what situation we're in moving forward, because we're missing too many pieces of the puzzle. But we just didn't want to give up.  (...)

We played again without an extra player who is in the hospital. But we didn't want to give up the fight despite a new issue that we can't control. We played with good energy and the game defines the culture of my players and our organization: 2-0, we come here to a full arena without four players of our Starting Five - but we fought, not looking at the scoreboard. Now we see each other again in less than 48 hours and I know how tough that's going to be. (...)

Now it's 1:2, they still have the match point. But if you lose and then win by 30, you've already improved a bit in things that hurt you a lot before. (...) Nick is our mainstay, he played great. But this is a team win and until Sunday we have to try to regenerate somehow. I have to put my players in a cocoon so they have a little more energy, because we used a lot of it today. (...) Alba will run on Sunday, they will shoot threes and play with a different tempo. They are deeper, in better shape, have all the important players with them. But I'm happy with what I have. (....)

To prepare for the game, we didn't focus so much on basketball, but on awareness. We were almost out, that's the truth, thinking about what we can do. Sometimes in these situations, it doesn't make sense to dwell on how bad you were, but to scrape all the energy together. (...) Leon is still in the hospital, I don't know about him. But Lucic certainly can't play (on Sunday). But I'm very happy with what I have."

Nihad Djedovic: "I'm honestly very relieved. We knew we were coming here with our backs against the wall and that it was going to be tough. The hall was sold out and everything was against us, but we managed to show character and win the game. We went into the game with a gameplan that wasn't that pronounced at all, and above all we wanted to play freely and with energy. When Leon Radosevic also dropped out shortly before we left, we had to stand together even more, and I think we played a good game. But the most important thing is: we showed character. After game two, we didn't talk to each other that much at all. We had a few meetings, but everything was purely focused on motivation without video analysis. We resolved not to go 0:3 down and to take the series to Munich. We did that, and now we'll rest tomorrow and attack again on Sunday."

Israel González: "Bayern played a very good game. They were much better and did everything better than us. They rebounded, shot and defended better. We were paralyzed at times and didn't grab free rebounds. And we couldn't get good shots. Bayern is a proud team that has been in many difficult situations and handled them well. They had very good communication and very clear roles. We have to learn from the defeat and remember again what a good team we are and what good chemistry we have. We have to find our identity again in the Munich game and play much better. It will be a very difficult game."

Game recap:

Nick Weiler-Babb, Ognjen Jaramaz, Nihad Djedovic, Deshaun Thomas and Augustine Rubit were expected to be the starters at the behest of FCBB coach Trinchieri to lay the foundation for a better start in game three. Immediately after the second defeat, Trinchieri's motto was that giving up is never an option. A major difference from game two came after two minutes, when the Munich team took the lead through a three-point play by Rubit - 5-4. The FCBB put together a determined 11-0 run, and the Berlin fans rubbed their eyes (13-4/5th minute of play). The FCBB defended attentively and agilely and on offense Hunter caused a stir. After the first quarter Bayern led 23-15.

The Munich team fought hard which was not only evident in the 5-0 start in quarter two, but especially in the rebounding. The threes were also falling, and the FCBB increased its lead to 33-17 (13th). Smaller mistakes made it tough to pull away so Rubit hammered a dunk to get things rolling again. Weiler-Babb stopped Berlin's 5-0 run with two free throws (35-22/15th). Thomas and Hunter hit their threes and Berlin coach Israel Gonzales rubbed his eyes and called timeout (31-22/16th). The momentum was on the side of the Munich team but Luke Sikma provided scoring for the Capitals (46-26/17th). The Bavarians did not let up a bit and kept their opponent clearly at a distance, Alba was looking for rhythm but did not find it. After 20 minutes, the Munich team was ahead 52-33.

Bayern clearly wins the rebound duel for the first time

To the delight of the Munich fans who had come along, their team's concentration remained at a top level. The Berliners, who of course had set their sights high, were not allowed to get back in the game (56-36/24th). Alba remained consistently without rhythm, the lead at 20 points (60-40/26th). Weiler-Babb sprinted ahead like lightning after a steal by Obst and stuffed the ball into the basket with gusto, followed immediately by Obst's three-pointer to make it 65-40 (27th). The crowd calmed down audibly in view of the dominance of the guests. Berlin tried to bounce back, but Nick Weiler-Babb put the lead at 72-46 after 30 minutes with an energetic three-point play.

The FCBB plays as if from a single mould

The Munich team was now brimming with self-confidence and countered Berlin's baskets decisively. Deshaun Thomas, in particular, once again put his stamp on the game with eight points in a row - the game had long been decided (82-50/34th). The Munich team defended very attentively right to the end, passing the ball quickly and fighting for every ball. Coach Trinchieri gave Schilling, Obiesie and Zipser plenty of playing time - all of them thanked him with an entry in the scorer's list. Zipser's participation on the floor alone put a smile on the faces of basketball fans. 

We need to take this momentum with us into the Audi Dome on Sunday, which is sure to be raucous.

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