Sensational victory in Tel Aviv: Bayern triumphs against the league leaders

What a great achievement: On the 25th EuroLeague match day, Bayern's basketball players won a sensational 79:64 (43:39) victory against league leaders Hapoel Tel Aviv, marking Munich's tenth win of the season. Coach Svetislav Pesic had only ten players available in front of 7.000 spectators, making the combative German champions' brilliant performance all the more remarkable. After scoring 26 points in the first quarter, the rock-solid defense allowed the favorites to score only 13, 11, and 14 points. Top scorers: Mike (16), Obst (13), Lucic, and Dimitrijevic (11 each).

Full Boxscore

Rock-solid defense

In addition to Baldwin, Bayern was also missing Jovic, Kratzer, McCormack, and da Silva. In the Bundesliga, they will host last season's finalists from Ulm for the southern derby at BMW Park on Sunday (6 p.m.). 

This duel began with high intensity, with Bayern attacking on offense and keeping pace with three-pointers from Mike and Lucic's four-point play (17:16/6.). The visitors moved the ball excellently, with Voigtmann scoring from outside to take a 30:28 lead (12.). Even in the middle of the second quarter (20:13), they didn't let a few unfortunate scenes and a setback to 32:39 throw them off their game. Instead, they finally had their first baskets to celebrate – three of them, in fact, for a seven-point lead at the break!

Jessup and Mike dunk hard, the arena falls silent  

Hapoel came out of the locker room even more aggressive. Mike stood his ground courageously and the defensive rebound held. With a 10:0 run, the underdog pulled ahead 55:41 and the crowd became very restless (28th minute). Mike and Gabriel were now playing with three fouls, but Dimitrijevic scored to make it 61:46.

The final quarter began with an eleven-point lead, nerves were on edge, but Bayern attacked courageously at the back – and Jessup slammed the ball through the hoop on a fast break to make it 67:52 (33rd minute). Mike made it 73:54 (35th minute) even more emphatically, and the arena fell silent. Five minutes later, Bayern celebrated a brilliant victory.

The quotes: 

Svetislav Pesic, Head Coach FC Bayern Basketball: "This is a good win for us. As always in basketball, defense is the foundation. To win here, you have to play perfectly and find the balance between offense and defense. We found a way to disrupt Hapoel's offense. They have the best perimeter player in Europe, but we solved that today. In defense, we found the confidence for offense. We improved our entry into attack, even when Hapoel defended very aggressively at the limit. (...)

My first game was against Hapoel in Munich (in December). (...) Before that, the coaching staff also had problems with many injuries, so continuity was lost. We're not the best team in Europe, but if the dynamics improve and the defense... Although we haven't been able to play a single game with everyone in the month since I've been back at the club, as is the case now with injuries and infections. But others have problems too. (...) We're playing very well in the Bundesliga, and with the wins comes confidence."  

Isiaha Mike: “We focused on defense and rebounds, which is what you have to do against this offensively strong team. We played very, very good defense today and luckily made our shots. In the second half, we took very good care of the ball, not quite as much in the final minutes, but especially in the third quarter, we really controlled the game well.”

Vladimir Lucic: “We struggled a bit at the start of the game, but then we secured the offensive rebounds in particular. We knew how talented Hapoel is. We came here with a smaller rotation, but we were ready to fight. The win is really big for us.”