FC Bayern Basketball remains undefeated after 16 Bundesliga games. Their latest victory comes over Göttingen which the standings leader won on the road by a score of 84-71. In front of 3,289 spectators Bayern had the game under control for the entire game and managed the early lead confidently until the final buzzer. The Munich team, with eleven out of twelve players scoring, convinced with a strong team performance which saw 27 assists. While Vladimir Lucic was able to return to the team after recovering from the flu, Maodo Lo (irritation in the knee) was rested since he had completed just one training session over the weekend. Top scorer was Derrick Williams with 16 points.
The Munich team will continue on Friday, January 25th in a EuroLeague game in Moscow. Starting at 18:00 CET which will play a huge part in the fight for playoff points. Already on Sunday, January 27th they tip-off in the BBL in Bayreuth.
Points per quarter Bayern-Göttingen: 22-12, 23-20, 16-15, 23-24.
FCBB Stats: Derrick Williams (16 points), Stefan Jovic (12/6 assists), Danilo Barthel (12/5 assists), Nihad Djedovic (10/5 rebounds), Nemanja Dangubic (8), Vladimir Lucic (8), Petteri Koponen (7/4 assists), Leon Radosevic (4), Braydon Hobbs (3/4 ass.), Alex King (2), Robin Amaize (2), Marvin Ogunsipe.
Quotes:
FCBB head coach, Dejan Radonjic: "We got off to a good start and had a good advantage right away. Then we started making mistakes and the opponent took advantage of it. In the second half it was an up and down but we controlled the game. It was important to distribute the minutes well today given the tough schedule this week."
Derrick Williams: "Göttingen has a good team. We had to work hard for this success, but victories are the most important thing for us in this phase and with this hard schedule with BBL and EuroLeague".
BG Göttingen head coach, Johan Roijakkers: "Congratulations, Bayern deserved to win. It's a good result for us to lose only 13 points against a team like Bayern Munich. But I would have liked to have seen a little more energy from my team throughout the game, a little more enthusiasm."
1st quarter
Stefan Jovic, Nihad Djedovic, Vladimir Lucic, Danilo Barthel and Leon Radosevic were the starting five for the Munich team. After five minutes Bayern had already forced the BG to commit four turnovers and only allowed as many points. But the visitors weren't just dominant on defense but four of the first six shots from beyond the arc found their way past the rim. After ten minutes, the German champions, with ten players scoring in the first quarter, were leading 22-12.
2nd quarter
At the beginning of the second section it was Derrick Williams who proved his jumping prowess with three consecutive dunks to take a 218-16 lead. Munich continued with impressive ease to score (74% field goals) and still focused on defense. Alex King was the next to show off when he stuffed the ball through the rim with one hand. A 7-0 run before the break led to just a 13-point lead at the break and a score of 45-32.
3rd quarter
After just four minutes, Dejan Radonjic was forced to put his players back on track with a time-out, because the BG shortened the lead to 48-38 with an 8:0 run. The time-out was followed by a 9-0 run in just 100 seconds for Bayern that pushed the lead to nearly 20. The Munich advantage remained constant at around 15 points for the rest of the quarter.
4th quarter
The most obvious difference was the Bayern superiority from distance (8/18 threes FCB, 3/19 BG). Nemanja Dangubic opened the final quarter from 6.75 meters. Driven by the home fans, the violets were still not done yet and shortened the lead for the first time since the first quarter back into the single digit range at 66-58. However, the visitors did not let themselves be put off by this and reacted in the style of an unbeaten number one team: Vladimir Lucic, Stefan Jovic and Derrick Williams ensured that things didn't get too close and in the end they coasted to a road victory in Götttingen.
(Photo-Credit: Stickel & BBL, Swen Pförtner)