82:66 victory in Jena

The basketball players of FC Bayern Munich have won on the tenth BBL game day with a final score of 82-66 in Jena and remain undefeated in the German League. In the sold out hall with 3,000 fans, the hosts kept pace in the first quarter but it was mainly thanks to the good shooting from outside that the German champions were able to control the game early on. All players had already scored in the first half for the standings leader. The top scorer in the end was Vladimir Lucic with 14 points while Braydon Hobbs and Stefan Jovic had seven assists each.  

Next Friday (14.12., 20:30) the Lithuanian Final Four participant from 2018, Zalgiris Kaunas, will be in Munich for the next EuroLeague duel. Only 40 hours later (Sunday, 16.12., 15:00) Alba Berlin will come to the Audi Dome for a game in the BBL.

Points per quarter Bayern-Jena: 25-22, 26-13, 10-15, 21-16.

FCBB Stats: Vladimir Lucic (14 points), Danilo Barthel (13), Nihad Djedovic (12), Derrick Williams (8), Stefan Jovic (7/7 assists), Leon Radosevic (6), Braydon Hobbs (5/7 assists), Alex King (5), Maodo Lo (4), Marvin Ogunsipe (3), Petteri Koponen (3),) and Robin Amaize (2).

Quotes:

FCBB head coach, Dejan Radonjic: "After the first quarter in which Jena played really well and we had far too many mistakes in boxing out but we did much, much better on defense. At the break we had a good lead, with which we controlled the game well despite some mistakes in the third quarter. Devin Booker will unfortunately be out for some time now. But we have several players who can play at his position."

Danilo Barthel: "I'm very happy because everyone played their part today. We still have to stop the periods of weakness like in the third quarter. Jena came out of the locker room with a lot of energy and we couldn't match their intensity at first. You could see why the games were so close last year. We have to prepare very well for Alba. But first we have an important match against Kaunas on Friday. After that we want to be fit for this game on Sunday. We all have to give a little more now to replace Devin."

1st quarter
FCBB coach Dejan Radonjic started the game with the starting five of Maodo Lo, Nihad Djedovic, Vladimir Lucic, Danilo Barthel and Marvin Ogunsipe, who replaced the injured Devin Booker. The hosts started focused and kept up well with the favorites from Munich. Lucic was the best on offense for the Bavarians with two threes from the corner and a dunk  on a fast break - the Serb had eight points early. Only one minute later Petteri Koponen took the first lead from outside in favor of the visitors at 15-12. Williams also scored his first points from beyond the three-point line and in the final minute of the first quarter brought the Bavarians back to the front. After ten minutes captain Barthel scored from the free-throw line. The Bavarians led 25-21 after one quarter after an impressive 76% shooting from behind the arc.

2nd quarter
Braydon Hobbs was on the floor for the first time at the beginning of the 2nd quarter and added to the great night from three for the team with his first shot. The American started a 10-2 run for the champion, whose last points were poured in by Barthel after a long pass from Hobbs over that spanned the entire court. After five fast points for Jena, Radonjic was forced to take a time-out with a six-point lead of 35-29. His words seem to have been well received and the Bavarians again took control. Lucic and Barthel further extended the comfortable lead for the guests up to 12 with four minutes to play in the half. Two minutes before half time, Stefan Jovic scored his first three and the point guard added five assists in the first half. After successful free throws by Robin Amaize, all Bayern players appeared on the scoreboard in the first half. The last points in the first half went to Marvin Ogunsipe who took the lead to 51-35. The champions dominated the second quarter and especially from deep and looked to continue their success in the second half. 

3rd quarter
The game became more intense after the break but Bayern stayed strong and maintained a comfortable lead. Stefan Jovic produced a highlight after the break with a fantastic pass to Leon Radosevic for his sixth assist of the game. The champion did not succeed on offense in the quarter though and at the end of the quarter they scored only four points by Derrick Williams and Hobbs. Nevertheless, after 30 minutes - thanks to good defense - the two-digit lead was achieved.

4th quarter

In the final quarter the Bavarians pumped up their offense yet again and looked to run the hosts out of their own building. Djedovic opened the last ten minutes with a successful "and one" and a score of 64-50. Barthel increased the lead to twelve points with a jump-shot with seven minutes to play.  The captain also provided one of the highlights in the final quarter with a nice fadeway in the best Dirk-Nowitzki impression. A 7-0 run between the 37th and 39th minute of play sealed the tenth victory in the tenth BBL game for the champions. In the end, Bayern won 82-66 and head home after another tough road win.

Upcoming games:

Fri, 14.12., 20:30: FCBB - Zalgiris Kaunas (EuroLeague)
Sun., 16.12., 15:00: FCBB - Alba Berlin (BBL)
Wed., 19.12., 20:45: Armani Milan - FCBB (EuroLeague)
Fri, 21.12., 20:00: FCBB - Real Madrid (EuroLeague)
Sun, 23.12., 18:00: FCBB - Alba Berlin (BBL Cup)
Wed., 26.12., 18:00: FCBB - Würzburg (BBL)
Fri, 28.12., 20:30: FCBB - Buducnost Podgorica (EuroLeague)
Sun, 30.12., 20:30: Bamberg - FCBB (BBL)

(Photo-Credit: Stickel)