Napier and Harris Lead Bayern to 87-84 Win in Bologna

The first road win is here! On Tuesday night, Bayern’s basketball team celebrated their fourth EuroLeague victory, overcoming Bologna 87-84 (40-33) in front of 7,200 enthusiastic fans.

Bazz Napier hit the game-winning shot - his only three-pointer in seven attempts - with five seconds left, and the impressive Elias Harris kept his cool at the free-throw line afterward. Once again, Munich’s top scorer was Carsen Edwards with 26 points.

Bayern will travel to Lyon on Wednesday to face Villeurbanne on Friday evening (8 p.m.). On Sunday (4:30 p.m.), the reigning champions will take on Braunschweig.

All the stats from the game

With an unchanged roster, missing Lucic and Giffey, Bayern quickly found themselves facing a deficit again: 13-23, exactly the opposite of what they had planned (8th minute). Bologna rebounded offensively and executed fast breaks, while Bayern primarily scored through Edwards.

Herbert Praises His Bench

Once again, it was Harris who brought real energy from the bench: Da Silva's daring dunk, Babb's three-pointer, and contributions from Napier and Harris helped the team take their first lead (35-29, 17th minute). However, they struggled to convert open three-point shots in the first half, hitting only 2 out of 16 attempts (12%).

With few turnovers and a complete game from Babb, who controlled top star Clyburn (6) on defense and set up Booker beautifully on offense, the visitors took charge of the game, thanks in part to the team's strong defense.

16 Points Ahead

The guard trio of all-rounder Babb, playmaker Napier, and Edwards built a comfortable double-digit lead at 62-46 (28th minute). However, by the middle of the last quarter, that lead had evaporated - Virtus was shooting better from the outside, closing the gap to 70-73 (35th minute).

The flow of the game was demoralizing, but Bayern stayed in it: Babb hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 82-82, and Napier followed with a contested three-pointer to put them ahead 85-82! The Italian thriller ended at the free-throw line - Bayern now stands at 4-2.

Quotes:

Gordon Herbert, Head Coach FC Bayern Basketball: "The key was when our second unit came into the game after six or seven minutes. We were down by double digits in the first quarter, but they turned the game around for us. After that, we built a 16-point lead and gained a lot of momentum, but soon found ourselves down by three again. In the last two minutes, we made some big shots. We had several very strong plays today, both defensively and offensively. At the end, we let Bologna back into the game, gambling a bit too much and giving them open shots. But in the end, we managed to secure the win. (...) We still don't have the identity we should. We started building it last week against Olympiakos, and we need to keep developing it."

Shabazz Napier: "I hadn’t hit a three all game - just the last one, and that was the most important. I'm grateful that my teammates trust me and that I'm in a position to take such a critical shot. I’m happy for my team; this was an important win, and away wins in the EuroLeague are so crucial."

Carsen Edwards: "The next 30 points weren’t on my mind; I wasn't thinking about that and I'm not disappointed it didn’t happen. All that mattered was the win, and we got it, so I’m very happy. Winning on the road in the EuroLeague is incredibly tough. We played really well in the second half - Elias Harris had some powerful minutes, and Bazz hit the crucial three at the end. These guys really helped us win the game today."