Brave Bayern lose to Kaunas

Well attended with 14,777 fans in the cauldron of the Zalgirio Arena: On Tuesday, Bayern’s basketball team lost 71–78 (38–34) to Lithuanian powerhouse Kaunas despite a clear improvement compared to the previous week. The Munich side put in a brave performance, but ultimately probably squandered their good chance of an upset with an energy-sapping 3:16 slump shortly after halftime. Oscar da Silva recorded a double-double with twelve points and ten rebounds.

Since Dimitrijevic is also slightly banged up, Hollatz was the only point guard available. In the absence of their ill head coach Svetislav Pesic, Bayern were coached by Muki Mutapcic. On Thursday (8:30 p.m.), Lyon-Villeurbanne will visit the SAP Garden for the second-to-last EuroLeague home game.

Tickets vs ASVEL

Full boxscore

Mutapcic coaches instead of Pesic

National player Hollatz scored all the points to make it 8:8, but also turned the ball over twice and sent Francisco to the line – 8:16 after six minutes. Bayern were still lacking precision in their finishing against a tough defense, but the first three-pointer by Mike made it 18:18 (10th minute).

Clear edge in rebounding

The ball was moving better now, Mayes took advantage of a few opportunities and McCormack dunked to make it 26:21 (12th). Bayern showed very good spirit on the boards (27:13 at halftime) and, despite not a single point from Obst and an 8:2 turnover deficit, still held the lead.

McCormack made it 42:34 after the break – but after four turnovers and a missed dunk, Kaunas suddenly led 52:45 (25th). Now it was a matter of riding out this big wave, but Zalgiris were now scoring reliably in the paint (56:47/26th). Bayern, however, fought passionately and did not fall apart, 57:63 going into the final quarter.

Comeback to 71:74

Here, Kaunas hit several shots from outside and pulled away again to 72:59 (34th). But the German champions responded bravely and cut it down to 71:74 (38th). This latest comeback, however, had cost too much energy.

Quotes: 

Emir Mutapcic, coach FC Bayern Basketball: “We’ve also been struggling with illnesses for three weeks now, and today the head coach was missing as well. In spite of all that, we still put in a good performance for 30 minutes. We were aggressive, both defensively and offensively. We had problems in the third quarter, we had six turnovers there. That gave Zalgiris easy points in transition. Of their 78 points, they scored more than 30 from fast breaks and after offensive rebounds – that’s too much. But I’m satisfied with our energy and our aggressiveness, we fought until the end, and that’s what we have to keep doing. (…) It wasn’t easy for me after many years, but that was my job today, or rather the job of the coaching staff. And I think we did a good job.”

Justinian Jessup: “We played well for three quarters, except for the third. We really played hard, but in that stretch we had a few turnovers. We almost managed it, but it’s tough to come back again in this kind of atmosphere.”