78-72 in Belgrade - Bayern remains without a EuroLeague win

The longed-for first victory is still only a wish. The Bayern basketball team lost the duel against the winless Adriatic champion Red Star Belgrade on the fifth EuroLeague gameday 78-72. In the cauldron of the Nikolic Arena, an overall good defensive performance was not enough to earn a win. In the debut of the long-injured Isaac Bonga and Elias Harris, the Munich team managed two comebacks, the second made it 56-56 in the third quarter (28th). But the poor shooting percentage (23% threes), the clearly lost rebound duel (45-33) and only ten assists tipped the scales in favor of the Serbians in front of a good 8,000 frenetic fans.

Top scorers for the Munich team, which is still missing Othello Hunter and Zan Mark Sisko, were Cassius Winston (18 points), Vladimir Lucic (12) and Harris (10); Nick Weiler-Babb grabbed ten rebounds. Bayern travels home on Saturday and hosts the Merlins from Crailsheim on Sunday (15:00) at the Audi Dome for its fifth BBL matchup.

Tickets vs Crailsheim

Points per quarter Bayern - Belgrade: 17-28, 26-16, 14-21, 15-13

Stats: Two-point shooting: 48 % (FCBB) // 52 % (Belgrad); Three-point shooting 23 % // 32 %; Free-throw shooting: 77 % // 83 %; Rebounds: 33 // 45; Assists: 10 // 18; Turnovers: 11 // 15

Quotes: 

FCBB head coach, Andrea Trinchieri: "Congratulations to Red Star, they were better in the first quarter. We came back, but two big threes from Vildoza and Nedovic completely changed the momentum. (...) In the third and fourth quarters we were not aggressive enough on offense. In addition, we didn't grab the rebounds we should have had to win this game. (...) These small mistakes had a big effect."

Belgrade head coach, Vladimir Jovanovic: "A big thanks to our fans for this wonderful support. They gave us a lot of energy. But I also want to congratulate my players, because they started the second half with a lot of energy. They knew it was an important game for us."

Game recap:

The FCBB started the game vs Red Star Belgrade with Nick Weiler-Babb, FCBB beginner Bonga, Vladimir Lucic, Paul Zipser and Freddie Gillespie. US center Gillespie scored the first points for Munich from the free throw line but the Serbian hosts got the better start. After Weiler-Babb received a technical foul (4th), Red Star went up 12-5. Luca Vildoza on the Belgrade side was the driving force for the home team's first 23 points in the rest of the first quarter (23-8/7th). Through three offensive rebounds and subsequent free throws, Augustine Rubit cut the deficit to 24-14 (9th) and Elias Harris made his FCBB debut in the final minute of the quarter.

Bonga and Harris play for the first time for Bayern

Quarter number two started with a Belgrade turnover resulting in two free throws for Harris, his first points in the red jersey (28-19/11th). He also brought more energy to the floor, which stabilized the defense. The more intense play on both sides was repeatedly interrupted by foul whistles: Vladimir Lucic closed the gap to 30-28 after an unsuccessful throw-in by the Serbs (14th). After Coach Trinchieri's second timeout and a classic Rubit shot from the center-court Cassius Winston took the first Munich lead at 36-34. But the team fell a bit behind again and the score was 44-43 at halftime.

The vociferous Belgrade crowd was brought right out of the break by a dunk from John Holland, and Cassius Winston scored the first Bayern points in the second half at the end of the shot clock. The intense pace remained dominant and there was hardly any game flow (49-48/25th) Neither of the two teams got real control over the game, but Belgrade scored a bit better: 65-57 for belgrade. 

58 total free-throws

Vladimir Lucic ended a five-minute scoring drought on Bayern's side with a three-pointer but Belgrade managed more out of the game in this decisive phase. A Winston steal and a successful Lucic finish forced Red Star to call a timeout shortly before crunch time (72-67/37th). In the hottest phase, however, the Serbians big man took over and FCBB captain Lucic scored five more points within six seconds (76-72/39.). But the last shots didn't drop and the big plays for Belgrade were delivered by NBA returnee Vildoza (20 points, 4 threes).

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