The basketball team of FC Bayern Munich lost 88-84 to the EuroLeague favorites, Fenerbahce Istanbul despite an impressive performance. In front of 8,868 spectators in the Ulker Sports Arena. FCBB demanded everything from the EuroLeague finalists of the past three years. Bayern kept the game close against the Turkish top team until the last minute, but in the end they couldn't finish against a very good team. 19 offensive rebounds (32-21 overall) underline the passionate performance of the guests, who were able to show their quality despite the unfortunate defeat. Top scorer for Bayern was Devin Booker with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Already on Sunday, November 4th, FCBB will play in the Bundesliga in Crailsheim (18:00). Next week there will be two home games on the program. On Thursday, November 8th Darussafaka Istanbul will play in the Audi Dome (20:00.) and three days later, on Sunday, November 11th Oldenburg will visit the Audi Dome (18:00).
Points per quarter Bayern - Fenerbahce: 26-28, 22-23, 17-14, 19-23.
FCBB Stats: Devin Booker (15 points/7 rebounds), Vladimir Lucic (13), Stefan Jovic (12/6 assists), Petteri Koponen (11), Nihad Djedovic (9), Nemanja Dangubic (8), Derrick Williams (7/7 rebounds), Danilo Barthel (7), Leon Radosevic (2), Maodo Lo, Alex King (dnp), Braydon Hobbs (dnp).
Quotes:
FCBB head coach, Dejan Radonjic: "Congratulations to Fenerbahce and Zeljko on their victory. We really played very well in the first half, offensively. However, 51 points for the opponent is too much and we had to improve our defense. We did that after the break and defended strongly. Unfortunately we made some bad decisions in the last minutes on offense. Fenerbahce took advantage of that to score important points."
Devin Booker: "It wasn't enough. We played well, but not well enough. We scored enough points. On offense it was okay, but it's about the defense if you want to win games like that. Of course there might have been one or two whistles missing, but we can't complain about that. But we will learn a lot from such games."
1st quarter:
Stefan Jovic, Nihad Djedovic, Vladimir Lucic, Danilo Barthel and Devin Booker made up the Starting Five of the Bavarians at the Istanbul guest appearance. Both teams started very well offensively and the first seven possessions of the game ended in success. The guests from Munich Looked solid early and took the lead for the first time after almost five minutes thanks to smooth offensive sets. The game remained fast-paced and rich in offensive highlights for both sides. While for Bayern Devin Booker, Vladimir Lucic and Nihad Djedovic carried the scoring load, Kostas Sloukas (5 points/ 6 assists) was the leading player on the home side and led his team to a 28-26 lead at the end of the first.
2nd quarter:
After three and a half minutes in the second quarter, FCBB coach Dejan Radonjic took the first time-out after falling behind 38-33. The hosts drew a lot of energy from their offensive rebounding and scored especially from the three-point line with a high percentage (5/7). However, because the Munich team also continued to play smart on offense, Fenerbahce coach Obradovic also took a timeout before Bayern could get back in the game. The game did not lose its intensity and suspense in this second quarter and on the contrary the FCBB stayed with the Turkish champs with a good mixture of fastbreak- and setplays on offense. At the half Bayern was right in it with a narrow 51-48 deficit.
3rd quarter:
After the side change, the style of play remained the same and the German squad fought fiercely to stay even with Fenerbahce. After almost five minutes in the third quarter Bayern led 59-56, which led home coach Obradovic to the loudest time-out speech to date. The reaction of the Turkish champion was not long in coming: Two Bayern turnovers were immediately converted into easy points and it was now noticeable to both teams that they put their focus to improve on defense the closer the crunch time came. The points spectacle of the first half had now become a game with few offensive highlights. Derrick Williams now took over responsibility and provided at both ends of the court and things got on fire. Fittingly the score heading into the fourth quarter was all tied up at 65-65.
4th quarter:
Petteri Koponen answered a Turkish three at the beginning of the last ten minutes with an impressive shot of his own from deep. The lead changed back and forth and the guests were in the right position to unravel a huge upset especially thanks to the good work on the offensive boards (14 OR). Fenerbahce answered in crunchtime but in the style of a champion. Luigi Datome and Marko Guduric scored important threes, but the Bavarians were still not shaken off. Koponen scored five points in a row to make it 79-78 for Fenerbahce with two minutes left in the game. The German champions fought for every inch on the court and demanded everything from the EuroLeague finalist of the past three years but finally, the 2017 champions showed their quality and pulled away at the end and sent Bayern home with nothing but a moral victory.
(photo-Credit: Stickel)
