Playoff series against Ludwigsburg always hold a special significance, but the current edition starts with a bitter setback for the Bayern basketball team: The regular season winners unexpectedly and deservedly lost to the Swabians in the first quarterfinal on Saturday evening 98:102 (90:90, 43:40), trailing 0:1 against the eighth-placed team.
Obst's heroics not enough
Two incredible three-pointers from Andi Obst (16 points, Edwards 25) managed to push the Cup winners into overtime. However, even there, the smaller lineup of the guests (16 three-pointers) was hard to contain, and the favorites squandered too many plays hastily.
The even more crucial Game two takes place in just 43 hours, on Whit Monday at 5 PM, also at BMW Park. Three wins are needed to advance to the semifinals.
FC Bayern Basketball - MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 98:102 (90:90, 43:40)
FCBB:
Carsen Edwards (25 points), Devin Booker (16, 8 rebounds), Andreas Obst (16), Elias Harris (8), Sylvain Francisco (8), Leandro Bolmaro (7,8 rebounds), Serge Ibaka (7, 9 rebounds), Vladimir Lucic (6), Isaac Bonga (5, 6 rebounds), Niklas Wimberg, Niels Giffey, Nelson Weidemann
Topscorer Ludwigsburg:
Silas Melson (33 points)
Referee
Anne Panther, Clemens Fritz, Radeesh Kattur
Attendance
6.324
Ludwigsburg scores, Francisco has to leave
In the emotional return of the 2014 championship team, which was cheered on by 6,300 fans once again in the spotlight, Pablo Laso's team took a 20:13 lead (8.) through fast breaks. Ibaka & Co. secured the rebounds, a mobile defense allowed little.
2014 team sees no turnaround
After Francisco twisted his ankle, the fluent performance suffered a setback, with the score now at only 30:28 (15.). The guest invested a lot and scored through the duo Roberson/Melson.
The confidence of the underdog, who has nothing to lose, finally challenged FC Bayern Basketball despite the interim score of 65:51 (29.) in the fourth quarter: Munich's passing game faltered, while the MHP Riesen threw furiously from the outside: 84:89, with only 24 seconds left.
Obst's bank shot brought the celebrated overtime. However, the weaknesses of the Munich team and the strengths of the tenacious victors remained the same in overtime. The surprise was complete.
Reactions to the Game
Pablo Laso, Head Coach FC Bayern Basketball: "Congratulations, they were better in the final minutes of the game. They executed their attacks, made big shots, and thus came back in a game that we controlled in terms of the result – but not really in the game. We always led, but didn't play the way we wanted to, and also didn't control the rhythm. Even in overtime, we weren't able to execute our offense. (...)
Perhaps this was a wake-up call at the right time. When you lose like this, you naturally want to see a reaction. We didn't want to start the playoffs like this, but now we have to accept it. We need to prepare for the next game in 40 hours. We need to defend better and make fewer mistakes in simple situations that hurt us today. (...)
Francisco injured his knee and couldn't play anymore, we'll have to look at it tomorrow. Lucic had a back injury. He tried until the end, but wasn't at 100 percent."
Josh King, Head Coach MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg: "I am super proud of my team, they deserved this win. Of course, Obst hit some strong threes at the end, but we found our rhythm at the right time. Credits to my team, winning away here in Munich is extremely difficult, but we did it. Of course, we want to win Game two as well, but that will be super tough again. Bayern finished the regular season in first place, but we will fight until the end. But when you look at the rosters, they are the clear favorites. Let's see how it goes."
Andreas Obst: "We lost our offensive flow, didn't move the ball as we wanted anymore. Defensively, we gave them baskets too easily, too easy open looks - that shouldn't happen in a game like this. We just need to be more composed and smarter. We're in the playoffs, Ludwigsburg has great players who can all play. We need to control that better. In Game two, we need to play more physically, defend better, and stick to our offensive game plan. We can't stop playing and must be focused all the time and definitely win Game two!"