The basketball players of FC Bayern Munich get an impressive 77-71 win over Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. In front of 4,539 spectators in the Audi Dome, the Bavarians were only two minutes behind in the first quarter, but thanks to some good energy and success from the three-point line the game was rarely in doubt and they held the lead throughout. Derrick Williams was the top scorer for the home team with 22 points.
The Bavarians will now play three road games in a row before Darussafaka Istanbul competes in the Audi Dome on Thursday, November 8th at 20:00.
Points per quarter Bayern - Baskonia: 20-11, 23-21, 18-20, 16-19.
FCBB Stats: Derrick Williams (22 points), Maodo Lo (15), Nihad Djedovic (14), Vladimir Lucic (9/6 rebounds), Stefan Jovic (7), Devin Booker (6/6 rebounds), Petteri Koponen (3), Danilo Barthel (1/6 rebounds), Nemanja Dangubic, Braydon Hobbs (dnp), Marvin Ogunsipe (dnp) and Alex King (dnp).
Quotes:
FCBB Head Coach, Dejan Radonjic: "This victory is a great success for us, especially because we had to sit an ill Leon Radosevic on short notice. It was our best performance of the season so far. But we also needed it against a very strong team from Vitoria-Gasteiz. We started with strong defense and had slight advantages throughout. In the second quarter we had problems on defense and with offensive rebounds, but we kept on playing. In the second half we kept our lead and won against an excellent team. It was very important for us that Danilo was able to play again today after bruising his knee on Sunday."
Danilo Barthel: "It was a hard and very physical game. But we started very well - especially defensively. This gave us a small lead that we managed to take to the finish line in the fourth quarter."
1st quarter
FCBB coach Dejan Radonjic started game 4 of the EuroLeague in the Audi Dome with Stefan Jovic, Vladimir Lucic, Nihad Djedovic, Danilo Barthel and Devin Booker. Both teams started with a considerable intensity on defense, which made points a scarce commodity. The first basket of the game was a free-throw by the Spanish runners-up after more than two minutes of play . For the first bucket, the Munich team needed over four minutes and eight shot attempts - Nihad Djedovic sunk a threesome to equalize at 3-3. Stefan Jovic tossed a perfect pass to Booker for an alley-oop and the fans were finally in the game. Derrick Williams immediately made his presence felt and the first time he touched the ball he scored.. Maodo Lo was extremely accurate and scored eight points in a row which played a decisive role in the unexpectedly clear lead at 20-11 after the first quarter.
2. quarter:
Bayern got a bit sloppy to start the second quarter and the Spanish team took advantage with an 8-0 run that brought the score to within three at 22-19. Derrick Williams stopped the run of the Spaniards with a three and scored two more times to take a 33:26 lead with five minutes to play in the half. The EuroLeague finalist Baskonia took advantage of another poor stretch by the home team and in a blink the score was 33-32 - time-out Bavaria. The break for reflection came at exactly the right time and seemed to work because the FCBB went on a furious 10-0 run which set them up for a comfortable 43-32 score at halftime.
3rd quarter:
The Spaniards came out of the locker room with much more enthusiasm but the Bavarians took the fight head on and managed to maintain a double-digit lead. Petteri Koponen finished his small dry spell with a big three-pointer and with three minutes to play in the third the score was 54-45 for Bayern. Baskonia, like Bayern with two losses in the EuroLeague badly wanted this road victory in Munich and worked their way back to 58-51 before the buzzer for quarter three.
4th quarter:
The beginning of the final quarter was extremely defense-heavy and both teams struggled to score. The German champions needed more than two minutes to finally score again: Derrick Williams forced in the bucket with all his power and experience and the score was 63-54 for Bayern. The play was the beginning of a thrilling 9-2 run, with the crowning finale a three-point dagger by Nihad Djedovic. Vitoria chose the half-court press defense to shorten the gap and irritate the home side, and indeed this measure caused some confusion for the Munich team and the lead dropped to 74-56. FCBB coach Dejan Radonjic took another time out and Derrick Williams cemented the victory 19 seconds before the end of the game with a monster dunk off a beauty of a pass from Danilo Barthel.
(Photo Credit: Rauchensteiner)