Bayern suffered an unfortunate 84:86 loss

The second win was close, but some unnecessary mistakes still cost them the game: 84:86 (47:46), Bayern Basketball lost on Friday evening to Partizan Belgrade, who are now 3:0. In a rousing EuroLeague fight in front of 11.500 fans, including around 2.000 Serbs, Bayern conceded 29 points in the fourth quarter and thus squandered a 13-point lead. Seventeen turnovers were at least one too many after a dramatic crunch time (Belgrade: 8).

Stats Quotes 

Sunday at BMW Park vs. Oldenburg

In just 41 hours, Munich are back on the court, this time at BMW Park against current Bundesliga leaders Oldenburg, who have won their first three games. It’s Family Game Day, tipoff is at 3 p.m.

Head coach Anton Gavel had to tweak his roster this time, as Beauchamp was out sick; Hollatz and da Silva sat. They, too, saw full intensity from the start on both sides. Bayern attacked the paint well, while Partizan capitalized on transition turnovers, 15:15 (7'). Washington’s buzzer three to end the quarter made it 27:22, and the arena shook.

Eighty-nine seconds later, Gavel called a timeout after a 0:8 start to the second quarter. Belgrade hit multiple corner threes — that gap had to be closed. Jokubaitis finally knocked down a Munich three, 33:33, but the visitors seemed to earn the narrow halftime lead through their passing — Washington had something to say about that and, amid loud cheers, took the lead back.

FC Bayern Basketball – Partizan Belgrad 84:86 (47:46)

Full Boxscore

65:52 after 29 minutes

Obst’s first three, plus some tough rebounds — Bayern came back determined and, with Thiemann’s make, pulled away for the first time in this duel to 65:52 (29').

But after just eleven points in the third quarter, Partizan picked it up again, including the pace; it went back and forth (70:64/32'). Bayern committed turnovers, and Partizan scorer Jones started to make his mark — only 75:71 (34'). Obst answered from the top of the key to make it 81:74, four minutes left.

Half of that later, Partizan suddenly led — a 0:9 run; Bayern had tried to force it too often (38'). A final bad pass 24 seconds before the end gave Belgrade possession. Top scorer Washington’s (20) potential game-winner clanged off the rim.

Quotes:

Anton Gavel, Head Coach FC Bayern Basketball: “Congratulations to Coach Peñarroya and his team. We had the chance to take this game; we were up by double digits. But we weren’t able to close it out. We have to get better there. (…) On the last play, we wanted to put Andi and Duane in a situation to create confusion. That didn’t work, and then Duane had to take a difficult shot. (…) In the Fenerbahce game we noticed how physical it is. We handled that much better today. The 17 turnovers were certainly forced by Partizan’s defense. But we have to take better care of the ball; that was the most important thing today. We can only win games if we get defensive stops. But if you concede 29 points in the fourth quarter, it becomes difficult to get easy ones on offense. (…) We can feel sorry for ourselves now, or give an answer on Sunday. Today it’s hard to digest; I don’t expect the players to, either. (…) We didn’t find the right lineup at the one; defensively we liked parts of it, offensively not. In the end, Jones scored twelve in the fourth quarter; that was decisive.”

Johannes Thiemann: “That was an unnecessary defeat. We did a lot of things right and then, for just five minutes, couldn’t control their key players. (…) There are still too many mistakes, giving them easy baskets. We trust the system; it’s a good system. But it takes time. (…) The atmosphere in the EuroLeague is cool, but I would have preferred a win.”