This great opportunity is lost: FC Bayern Basketball lost the important duel for 10th place away against direct competitor Valencia 68:70. Instead of Bayern, the Spaniards thus achieved their 14th season victory in a hectic game of nerves. Captain Lucic missed the three-pointer for victory at the last second.
In addition to Andreas Obst, the BBL cup winner was also missing Danko Brankovic due to injury, and Sege Ibaka received his second foul early on - and the league's best rebounding team quickly conceded offensive ball gains to the hosts in a series (8:23/8.). FCBB was disorganized on both ends of the field, resulting in a 15:28 deficit after the first quarter.
Valencia Basket - FC Bayern Basketball 70:68 (45:37)
- FCBB:Devin Booker (16 points, 6 rebounds), Sylvain Francisco (12), Carsen Edwards (10), Niels Giffey (7), Vladimir Lucic (7), Leandro Bolmaro (5), Serge Ibaka (4), Elias Harris (4), Nick Weiler-Babb (2), Dino Radoncic (1), Isaac Bonga, Niklas Wimberg.
- Top scorer Valencia Basket:Chris Jones (19 points)
- RefereeDamir Javor, Milivoje Jovcic, Arturas Sukys
- Attendance5.764
Giffey calms the game down
Nevertheless, the veterans Giffey and Harris converted their experience into points, but the lack of consistency remained the theme (31:40/18.). Lucic and Ibaka returned very late - halftime (37:45).
Top scorer Booker injured
The second half started like the first, with little effective ball movement and turnovers. The ideal combination on the field had to be found now. Booker recommended himself first with five points; he was followed by Lucic and Francisco, who reduced the deficit to 56:57. Weiler-Babb joined in, bringing the lead at 58:57 (31.).
Few from the line, Lucic unlucky
But when Booker twisted his ankle and thus became the second big man to be sidelined after Brankovic (35.), the momentum threatened to slip away again. And so it was: In a nerve-wracking final phase, the experienced hosts led by Jones (19) ran down the clock. FCBB only managed twelve points in the last quarter and also missed too many free throws (16/23) - Lucic narrowly missed converting the last play.
Quotes:
Pablo Laso, head coach of FC Bayern Basketball: "Congratulations to Valencia on the win. They started better than us, and we had to fight the whole time. We had to fight throughout the entire game, and we did that, fought for every ball, and slowly came back. We couldn't turn the game around, even though the last shot could have brought us the win. We'll try to forget about this game before our next match on Friday."