The reunion was warm, and the result was fitting as well: In the return of head coach Pablo Laso to his Basque hometown of Vítoria, the Bayern basketball team was able to take home the points. The German Cup winners deservedly won 76:68 (41:42) after a dominant fourth quarter. In front of 7,542 spectators, it was the second Munich victory on the third day of the EuroLeague, with Edwards contributing 14 points.
On Wednesday, Bayern will travel through Bilbao to continue to Barcelona, where they will face the still undefeated co-leader Barça on Friday (8:30 PM, MagentaSport). On Sunday, FCBB has a BBL match in Crailsheim as well.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz - FC Bayern Basketball 68:76 (42:41)
FCBB:
Edwards (14 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST), Francisco (12/4 AST), Giffey (11), Brankovic (8/4 REB), Booker (8/4 REB), Gillespie (8/3 REB), Weiler-Babb (4/11 REB), Bolmaro (6), Bonga (2), Wimberg, Obst (3), Weidemann
Topscorer Baskonia:
Marinkovic (13 PTS)
Referee
Mehdi Difallah, Ioannis Foufis, Josip Radojkovic
Attendance
7.542
19:6 in the crunch time
Laso decided to give Ibaka a break this time, and Brankovic was back in the lineup for him. The rotation of the big men seemed to work well because center colleague Gillespie made a good start with six points in the first quarter, and Brankovic's dunk gave them their first lead at 16:14 (min 7).
However, the defense against Baskonia's long-range shooters appeared indecisive, and their own three-point shooting struggled initially (2 of the first 10 attempts). As a result, Vítoria managed to pull ahead for the first time before halftime, leading 39:32 (min 18).
Giffey leads in the fourth quarter
After the break, Laso continued to wait for consistent play. Gillespie quickly picked up his fourth foul (min 23), the second unsportsmanlike foul against Bayern. Baskonia took advantage of the turmoil and turnovers with simple methods and better shot selection, extending their lead to 62:52 (min 28). Was it over?
No, the guests remained resilient, fought back through offensive rebounds, and turned the tide: 69:64 after a 17:2 run, with three minutes to go! Especially veteran Giffey (11) kept a cool head, and the Bayern defense allowed only six points in the fourth quarter - ultimately deciding a closely contested game.
Post match quotes:
Pablo Laso (Head Coach): We played a very solid 40 minutes. We only led twice in the game, but we remained focused and managed to come back. In the first half, we had some open shots to take the lead, but we didn't capitalize on them. At halftime, I told them that we needed to play better to win. And we did just that: offensively, we made our shots, and defensively, we were able to control their top scorers. We know how difficult it is to win here in Vitoria-Gasteiz. We stayed very focused, and I'm delighted for my guys that we could secure the victory.
Carsen Edwards: In the end, our bench made the difference. Some of the guys who came in had really good actions - good stops, important shots - in the second half. The win was crucial for us. Every win is great, but it's even more important on the road. We'll gladly take it and build on our performance, aiming to learn from our mistakes.
Niels Giffey: At the end, we found one or two plays that worked really well. We were able to capitalize on their aggressive defense and found the right players in our offensive scheme to close out a tough game on a positive note. We stayed together despite some mistakes, played with courage, took shots, and grabbed rebounds. It's not easy to play here.