78-68 in top game

In their fourth game of the week, the Bayern basketball team lost the top duel in Bonn to the Telekom Baskets 78-68 in front of 6,000 spectators. For Andrea Trinchieri's team, which was short of players, it was the second loss in the tenth BBL game. In addition to a lack of energy, the offense again lacked relief without Lucic and Rubit less than 48 hours after the EuroLeague game in Vítoria; only Winston scored in double figures (14).

Real Madrid visits on Tuesday

For Bayern, it continues til Saturday with three games but all are at least at home in the Audi Dome: Tuesday starts things off in the EuroLeague against Real Madrid and Thursday against Valencia while the week is finished off on Saturday evening against Braunschweig.

Tickets vs Real

Bonn hit four three-pointers in the first quarter (23-16) and dominated the boards after early foul trouble for Bayern big men. FCBB got to the line for the first time late in the second quarter (34-24/16th) and Bonn continued to hold sway. Things did not change in the second half and 71-52 was the highest deficit of the game (35th).

Points per quarter Bayern - Bonn: 16-23, 18-18, 10-13, 20-16

Stats: Two-point shooting: 50% (FCBB) // 47% (Bonn); Three-point shooting: 32% // 43%; Free-throw shooting: 57% // 79%; Rebounds: 32 // 35; Assists: 13 // 13; Turnovers: 9 // 9

Quotes:        

Andrea Trinchieri: "Congratulations to Bonn, they played better and with more energy. If you look at the statistics, they are almost identical. They hit slightly better threes, but they have the same number of assists, almost the same in rebounds and exactly the same in turnovers. That's why it's clear that they played with more energy and tempo, we couldn't match that. That weighed on us the entire game."

Elias Harris: "Bonners were more alert overall today and dominated the game. The things we wanted to take away from them, we didn't succeed. They had way too many open threes. Everyone knows by now that we can't improve given our mammoth schedule, but that would be a poor excuse. We have to pool our strengths and just keep going. There are still so many games to be played. It's still a long season, and there's no point burying our heads in the sand. We just have to play more as a team and less as individuals. But I'm still positive: we have a good team and we're working hard in training - so there's clearly still room for improvement."

Game recap:

Andrea Trinchieri started the fifth game in nine days with Nick Weiler-Babb, Isaac Bonga, Andreas Obst, Paul Zipser and Freddie Gillespie. Bonn went ahead early but Obst took advantage of his first shot to make it 3-2 (2nd minute of the game). The Bavarians matched the energy of the rested Bonn players around their whirlwind TJ Shorts and stayed close (8-7/4th). Winston brought fresh wind into the game and contributed two clean floaters (15-14/7th) but the FCBB had a hard time against the pressure-filled defense of the Baskets and the gap increased (20-14/9th). After ten minutes, the Munich team was trailing 23-16.

Weiler-Babbs for three

Bonn's shots were now falling, Bayern's were not. Coach Trinchieri took a quick timeout because his team had been overrun by the Bonners and had conceded a 6-0 run (29-18/12th). An extremely difficult three-pointer by Weiler-Babb was kept the game respectible and Obst did the same to pull it back within single digits (32-24/13th). The FCBB created some good shots but was nothing would drop. The Munich team fought their way back point by point  and Nick Weiler-Babb reduced the score to 38-34 with another difficult three-pointer but Bonn's strong Jeremy Morgan sank another bomb and kept a lead - 41-34 after the second quarter.

Bayern's battery on low

The Bavarians struggled with their energy and could not bring the speed demanded by Trinchieri on the floor  (46-37/23rd). The FCBB remained without a basket for minutes but Harris at least converted two free throws (50-39/26th). Winston's next smooth floater scratched the single-digit deficit (56-46/29th), but as usual in this game, a basket was followed by one or more for the other team - 62-48 after three quarters.

Late catch-up

Munich desperately tried to mobilize their last forces, but the hosts obviously had the momentum.  After just under three minutes in the final quarter, Trinchieri took a timeout as the Baskets had established the biggest lead of the game (67-50/33rd). Unfortunately, nothing changed as the shots of the guests missed their target over and over agian (71-52/35th). The game was supposedly decided, but the Munich team showed character and did not give up: After three minutes without a basket Winston scored five points in a row - time-out Bonn (71-57/37th). A jolt went through the team as a brisk 6-1 run reduced the lead to 72-61, but an annoying turnover destroyed the budding hope of the Munich team. The battery was empty and Bonn celebrated its lead in the standings.

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