What a basketball celebration, what an intense EuroLeague clash, what a nail-biting finale: FC Bayern Basketball secured their third season victory in the EuroLeague with an extremely bold performance against Partizan Belgrade, leveling the score with the ambitious Serbians through a 94-85 (53-51) win. The team led by Pablo Laso displayed a magnificent fighting spirit, with Edwards (21) and Francisco (17) being their top scorers.
In front of 6,500 fans at the sold-out BMW Park, including around 3,000 enthusiastic and fair Partizan sympathizers, the Munich team, as feared, had to do without Lucic and the injured Bonga and Obst. 17-year-old youngster Kharchenkov, who was registered for the EuroLeague at the beginning of the week, made his debut in the league already in the first quarter.
FC Bayern Basketball - Partzian Belgrad 94:85 (53:51)
Topscorer FCBB:
Carsen Edwards (21 points)
Topscorer Partizan:
Bruno Caboclo (19 points)
Referee
Fernando Rocha, Tomislav Hordov, Kristaps Konstantinovs
Attendance
6,500
Partizan's offense clicked right away, and despite some turnovers, Bayern also found their rhythm (18:19/7.). However, the guests had advantages in the paint (10 out of 11 two-pointers in the first quarter) and played confidently, leading 32-22 shortly before the first break (10.).
An intense, high-quality duel unfolded, with FCBB fans now being on par with their team: Suddenly, it was 42-41 after Wimberg's second three-pointer, and the arena was electric. This continued after Edwards' next successful shot and Booker's points, making it 65-53!
Rebounding Advantage
The rest was a heavyweight fight, with both Bayern and the guests sinking three-pointers. With the score at 82-81 in the last three minutes, Ibaka received his fifth foul. However, Francisco & Co. kept their composure, securing a clear rebounding advantage (39-25) and ultimately winning the game.
Quotes
Pablo Laso, head coach FCBB: "Congratulations to my players, they did a fantastic job. They played with a lot of courage and gave it their all. Our first quarter wasn't really good; we were behind both defensively and offensively. But we made shots, and sometimes that's just what helps. From the second half onwards, we really understood how we need to play against such a team. The last 30 minutes were very complete. (...)
I am very happy about the win, which we needed. In the end, it was also a home game, and the victory was crucial after some close away games. It will help boost our confidence. (...) In the first play after the break, Niels Giffey touched the ball during their inbound – that showed that my guys wanted this game. (...) Kharchenkov's minutes were also great for us; he brought us energy and pressed the ball – a 17-year-old boy playing EuroLeague without fear. So, it was a great team effort. Our defense was much better in the last three quarters."
Carsen Edwards: "The win is very important. We still have a long way to go, but I think just getting a win and being rewarded for the work gives us a fresh start. I'm excited, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us. I think I played the right kind of basketball today, took open shots, and was well-found by my teammates. Today, we can celebrate, but tomorrow the preparation for the next game begins."
Sylvain Francisco: "I think it's good to win. We lost four games before this, so the win felt good. I had the opportunity to score and set up my teammates, so everything I'm good at. We got the win, played tough defense – I'm very happy about it. We had to figure out how to score easy points towards the end. I think at that moment, we played smart. The losses had similar reasons, so we had to be clever and figure out how to get the win, and we did that."
