The basketball players of FC Bayern Munich won on the 34th gameday of the EuroLeague at Buducnost Podgorica by a final score of 89-75. In front of 5,056 frenetic spectators the German champions had a solid start to the game but the tough environment led to a tight score at halftime. Coach Radonjic, who received great applause on his return hom, led the first ever German team to accomplish twelve victories in a EuroLeague season. The guests were effective on offense and defense despite a bad spot of play before halftime. In spite of 15 offensive rebounds for the home team, Bayern won the race in the end to settle on a solid 12-12 record which keeps them in the playoff race. Top scorer for Munich was Vladimir Lucic who scored 18 points while four others scored in double digits.
The Bundesliga will continue on Sunday, March 3rd with tipoff at 15:00 when Eisbären Bremerhaven visits the Audi Dome. On Thursday, March 7th will be another huge EuroLeage EuroLeague game against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Munich starting at 20:30.
Points per quarter Bayern - Podgorica: 25-17, 16-27, 25-15, 23-16.
FCBB Stats: Vladimir Lucic (18 points/7 rebounds), Danilo Barthel (16/4/3 Assists), Nemanja Dangubic (13/ 3/3 Triple), Petteri Koponen (11), Derrick Williams (9/7), Stefan Jovic (6/7 assists), Leon Radosevic (6), Maodo Lo (4),Braydon Hobbs (3), Nihad Djedovic (3), Alex King, Robin Amaize.
Quotes:
FCBB head coach, Dejan Radonjic: "This was a very important and a great victory for us. We actually started well and then again after the weak second quarter. We finished as you have to play against Podgorica. We got better defensively and played smarter on the attack after the half. Also important shots fell from deep. In the last section we had the game under controll and I'm very happy with the team."
Vladimir Lucic: "A very important game for us in the fight for the playoffs. Accordingly, we are very happy about the success here in this very difficult arena."
Danilo Barthel: "It was a hard fought and tight game. We were better in the second half especially rebounding. Most importantly we had a very good team performance."
1st quarter
For Munich, Stefan Jovic, Nihad Djedovic, Vladimir Lucic, Danilo Barthel and Leon Radosevic started the game for their head coach in his trip down memory lane. The healthy Stefan Jovic was the most important figure of the first quarter with two steals, two assists and four points. He helped take the lead after five minutes of play, 13-9. Again and again the German champions found an open man on offense and Leon Radosevic (6 points) was under consistently open under the hoop. The guests showed up on both sides of the floor and though they struggled rebounding, they won the first quarter with a score of 25.17.
2nd quarter
Nemanja Dangubic was given the opportunity twice to complete three points from the free-thorw line and hit them all. After a few minutes the game atmosphere in the hall became more intense, which gave Podgorica an obvious advantage. Spurred on by their fans, Podgorica fought their way back into the game thanks second chance points and dominance on the boards (7 offensive rebounds). The Bavarians were now in danger of letting the game slip out of their hands. The problem continued to be rebounding and the home team had bulied their way to a 44-41 lead at the half.
3rd quarter
At the beginning of the second half Bayern was more attentive than they had been in the first. They took the lead back after fourt minutes of play and were seemingly much more confident after the break. The boost in effort on both sides of the ball quickly led to a double-digit lead and with three minutes to play in the third quarter the score was 61-51. Bayern had regained their offensive rhythm by means of a tighter defense and were now in charge of the flow of the game in Montenegro. Braydon Hobbs came from the bench and nailed a deep shot headed and thanks to strong play from Captain Barthel they maintained a nine-point advantage heading to the final quarter.
4th quarter
Petteri Koponen hit the trio from the corner at the start of the final quarter and it was a sign of things to come in the final quarter. Bayern gave up only six points in the first five minutes and those were from emergency last second three-pointers by Podgorica.. This strong defense was the main reason for the consistent lead and with five minutes to play Bayer held a comfortable lead, 75-62. Crunchtime was handled as most of the rest of the game by the German stars and the comfortable lead was held throughout the remaining minutes of the game. Lucic put an exclamation mark on the win by a monster Lucic dunk. Bayern heads home happy and still in the playoff race in the ever difficult EuroLeague.
Photo credit: Prelevic | EuroLeauge | Getty
