Bayern outshines favorite Panathinaikos

Here is the first real upset of the season: Thanks to arguably their best performance of the year, Bayern’s basketball team defeated title contenders and Final Four hosts Panathinaikos Athens 85-78 (40-43) on Thursday night. In a dramatic finish, Obst (15 points) hit two crucial three-pointers, while earlier Jessup (16) and Gabriel (12) kept their team on level terms with the favorites in front of 11,500 fans. It’s Bayern’s eighth win of the EuroLeague season and their third consecutive home victory. The FCBB also impressed with a strong 21 assists.

Full Boxscore

Jessup and Obst score

Hollatz and Kratzer were rested for Bayern, Baldwin was absent, and Harris as well as Jokubaitis were unavailable anyway. At least Lucic and Jovic were able to play again. On Sunday, the BBL leaders will face Chemnitz (6 p.m./Dyn).

Transition play and tough defense: after a strong start by Munich, the favorites took a 16-11 lead (6th minute). But Bayern kept up with the high level of this duel, Jessup’s three-pointer making it 25-24 at the end of the first quarter. Midway through the second period, they had further chances, but the better-shooting visitors extended their lead to 38-29 from Bayern’s perspective (17th minute).

Applause from Pesic

A 6-0 run quickly brought Bayern back, Mike’s second three-pointer cutting it to 41-38 (19th minute). A narrow deficit at halftime, but coach Pesic applauded his team as they headed to the locker room.

Grant (17) and Osman (20) led Athens with cool finishes and gave Obst absolutely no space on defense. Jessup stepped up again, making it 52-49 (26th minute). Thanks to a three-point percentage of nearly 50 percent, Pana stayed ahead, but Gabriel cleaned up on the offensive glass—and Mayes put FCBB ahead 67-66 (34th minute).

The final minutes were a fascinating back-and-forth between two teams desperate to win. Jessup’s next three-pointer made it 73-70 (36th minute), and the arena was rocking. In a scary moment, FCBB lost Jovic, who crashed to the floor.

Jovic and Dimitrijevic injured

The same happened to Dimitrijevic with 1:22 left on the clock. But on the very next possession, Obst finally got his shot—82-76! Another three-pointer followed immediately—and Bayern’s champions also made the final defensive play.

The Quotes:

Svetislav Pesic, Head Coach FC Bayern Basketball: "That was a high-level game from both sides, for 38 minutes both teams were on equal footing. But in the end, I think we deserved to win. In the second half, we improved in one-on-one situations. (…) We hope the injuries to Jovic and Dimitrijevic aren’t too serious. Both are okay for now, but we’ll see how they feel tomorrow. Those were some tough hits.

Andi Obst showed a completely different quality today. They defended him really hard for almost the entire game. But a player of his caliber just shows patience and plays for others. He didn’t try to force things. Others like JJ (Jessup) stepped up—and Andi waited for his chance. We play for him and believe in him, all of us. (…) Gabriel worked very well with our coaching staff and individual trainer for two weeks. (…) He’s not Nikola Jokic, but Jokic isn’t Gabriel either. His performance comes from good training. His defense, his offense, his rebounding—it was all good. Just like our fans, it was a really great atmosphere with fantastic support."

Justinian Jessup: "In the final minutes, we managed to get some good stops and Andi hit two important shots. I’m really happy with how we handled the deficit in the last quarter—we didn’t give up and fought back really well. The atmosphere in the SAP Garden was amazing, it was a lot of fun."

Wenyen Gabriel: "We prepared well for this game and worked hard all week. It’s great to see that it paid off today. We didn’t give them many offensive rebounds and focused more on ourselves—I’m happy with the win."