Bayern defeats Bologna, McCormack shines

Bayern Basketball capped a big night for Munich sports with a strong road win: the German champions won a hotly contested duel 85:80 (43:43) in Bologna on Tuesday thanks to a passionate, high-energy performance, celebrating their 16th victory of the season. After leading for long stretches, Svetislav Pesic’s team had to allow the two-time EuroLeague winners to pull level at 72:72 — but kept their nerve in the closing minutes. Center David McCormack was outstanding with 24 points, while Isiaha Mike and JJ Jessup added 12 apiece. The team shone with 26 assists.

24 points from the center

The second leg of the Italy trip takes place on Thursday in Milan, who lost 102-96 in Valencia in parallel action. On Sunday, FCBB host the Niners Chemnitz at the BMW Park, followed by Ludwigsburg on Tuesday.

As demanded by coach Pesic, Bayern initially had the Italians’ fast break under control. From 4:4 they pulled away to 12:4 (5'), with McCormack continuing his fine form from mid-range and with a dunk. Obst hit a three to make it 21-9, but the visitors failed to press home their advantage in this phase against a still hesitant home team (34:20, 14'). McCormack’s poster to make it 41:29 was a thunderclap — but Virtus battled back before halftime through rebounding (18:9) and 15 points from Morgan to somehow tie the game out of nowhere.

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The 41:29 cushion was quickly used up

McCormack’s power sparked the better start to the third quarter, 56:50 (26'). In an increasingly wild back-and-forth, the difference came from the more determined fight on the boards and Jessup’s threes — 66:58 heading into the final act (30').

Virtus ran and attacked relentlessly, at times turning it into a wrestling match; Bayern still stood their ground. But Bologna kept getting to the line, 72:72 (37'). A three from Dimitrijevic, a neat lefty layup by McCormack, and his alley-oop to make it 81:75 seemed to be the breakthrough with 1:25 left — or did it?

Neno and Mike ice-cold

Bologna answered with another three, but Mike’s heavily contested jumper and Dimitrijevic’s free throws sealed the fourth road win. The defense held Edwards (12) to just three made two-pointers.

The quotes: 

David McCormack: “It feels good! We had good energy and that motivated me even more! (…) We play in Milan on Thursday and hopefully we’ll finish the Italy trip successfully.”

Svetislav Pesic, head coach of FC Bayern Basketball: “This is a good win for us. Even if everyone thinks the season is already over—both teams fought very hard for the victory and wanted to win; respect to both teams and all the players. For us, the win is important to build new confidence, for the Bundesliga and the two games in Milan and against Barcelona. We had problems with transition defense in the second quarter and at the start of the third. (…) But the difference today was that, on offense, we mostly knew what we wanted to run. Twenty-six assists is very good and, as you can see, I’m happy that we won. And that’s because we stuck to the game plan, especially in the fourth quarter.”

Neno Dimitrijevic: “This is a big team win. When we fight for each other and play for each other, we bring out the best in ourselves. That is our identity. That’s how we have to finish the season. (…) Coach Pesic is a legend. He tells us that every practice counts. (…) We’re trying to win the game in Milan as well.”