FC Bayern Munich Baskball lost EuroLeague Game 3 by a score of 83-73 to FC Barcelona.. For the German champion it was their second defeat, and Barcelona is now 1-1. In front of 4,372 spectators in the Palau Blaugrana, Bayern trailed by a two-digit margin early on and failed - in spite of the opportunities that presented themselves - to make a run at the end of the game. The decisive factor for the second loss of the season was the poor rebounding (18-34 rebounds). While Barcelona converted second chances on offense again and again. Top scorer for Munich was Maodo Lo with 16 points.
The Bavarians will continue on Sunday, October 21, with a top game in the Bundesliga. At 18:00 against the Telekom Baskets Bonn at the Audi Dome.
Points per quarter Bayern - Barcelona: 17-26, 19-18, 18-21, 19-18.
FCBB Stats: Maodo Lo (16 points), Vladimir Lucic (12), Danilo Barthel (11), Nihad Djedovic (9), Leon Radosevic (7), Derrick Williams (6), Devin Booker (6), Stefan Jovic (3), Nemanja Dangubic (3), Petteri Koponen, Alex King, Braydon Hobbs.
Quotes:
FCBB Head Coach, Dejan Radonjic: "Congratulations to Barcelona for the victory. They started very well, with a lot of aggressiveness. We fought well, but their offensive rebounds put us behind the whole game. When we had chance at the end we missed our free-throws, so unfortunately it was decided."
Maodo Lo: "We didn't rebound today, we didn't box out, that was our problem. In the third quarter we fought our way up to within four points, but then we gave up offensive rebounds again. That ruined us."
Vladimir Lucic: "We had phases today in which we looked like a good team. But at such a level and against a team like Barcelona, you have to be concentrated for 40 minutes, especially on the road. And we weren't today."
1st quarter:
Like against Panathinaikos Athens the Bavarians started with Stefan Jovic, Nihad Djedovic, Vladimir Lucic, Danilo Barthel and Devin Booker. Both teams put their focus on defense at the beginning and therefore had a hard time creating good looks onoffense. It was Barcelona's Kevin Pangos who was the first player on the floor to find his offensive rhythm and who provided the first somewhat comfortable lead for the hosts at 10-3 halfway through the quarter. The visitors from Munich had a hard time finding their way into the game because they allowed the Catalans second chances again and again, which they took advantage of as would most top teams. Bayern had enormous problems with the aggressive full court defense of the hosts and only rarely came at all into their planned plays. Maodo Lo made sure with two threes at the end of the quarter that his team was reasonably within striking distance despite initial problems and after one the score was 26-17.
2. quarter:
Bayern defended better now and by the middle of the second quarter they had turned the game into an exciting one at 34-28 in favor of Barcelona. But the offensive rebounds remained a big deficiency in the game of the guests: Barcelona had already secured five of them, the Bavarians, on the other hand, were at a zero in this statistic after 17 minutes. FCBB went to break with the score at 44-36 mostly due to bad offensive rebounding but thanks to Lo, they were still within striking distance.
3rd quarter:
With the first steal of the game and a dunk by Danilo Barthel, Bayern started the second half. The Bavarians took the momentum and managed to force the Spanish Cup winner to difficult finishes and got ot within four points at 44-40. The only drawback in the Munich game remained the rebounds, because Barcelona still had important second and sometimes third chances. It was the rebounds, which prevented a comeback, because whenever the guests had the chance to get the equalizer, the Catalans scored after second or third chances. Heading to the final quarter the score was 63-52 for Barcelona.
4th quarter:
Derrick Williams led a comeback briefly in the fourth, but as in the whole game Barca found the answers to stopping it before it got out of control. Above all Ante Tomic caused the Bavarians major problems: It was characteristic that the Munich team was able to secure the first offensive rebound of the night just five minutes before the end - otherwise Barcelona dominated the action under the boards and kept a double-digit lead. Still, Bayern couldn't be shaken off completely and were three minutes before the end in the situation to provide an exciting end. But mistakes from the free-throw line prevented a comeback for Munich and the final score ended up at 83-73 for the home team..
Upcoming Games:
Sunday, 21.10., 18:00: FCBB - Bonn (BBL)
Thursday, 25.10., 20:00: FCBB - Baskonia (EuroLeague)
Sunday, 28.10., 15:00: Bremerhaven - FCBB (BBL)
Thursday, 1.11., 18:45: Fenerbahce Istanbul - FCBB (EuroLeague)
Sunday, 4.11., 18:00: Crailsheim - FCBB (BBL)
Thursday, 8.11., 20:00: FCBB - Darussafaka Istanbul (EuroLeague)
