Bayern lose 66-59 at home to Valencia

Bayern Munich Basketball were unfortunate as they let a half time lead slip as they went on to lose 66-59 against Valencia in front of 5,219 fans at the Audi Dome in the Euro Cup. The German champions put in a strong performance in a game which was dominated by defence, but lost out of nowhere. The team went 3 of 22 from open threes in the game (Valencia 10/31), failing to score a single three pointer in three of the four quarters of the game. The Spaniards on the other hand, connected with plenty of theirs, especially in the fourth quarter as they outscored Bayern 13-21 to seal the win and propel themselves into the playoff places.

Bayern will have just a day to recover from the loss as they take on Jobstairs Giessen 46ers on Sunday 9th February, looking to hold their place at the top of the table with a win.

Points quarter by quarter: 13-15, 17-9, 16-21, 13-21

Post match reaction:

Oliver Kostic, Bayern coach: “Valencia scored some important threes down the stretch, they shot well in the entire second half which kept them alive in the game and brought them back into it. We showed a lot of fight and plenty of hustle, but unfortunately shots just weren’t falling for us today, even though we were open quite often. To go 3 of 16 from three point range in the second half after not scoring a single one in the first just goes to show, no matter how well you defend, if you don’t back that up offensively you’re never going to win the game. We had plenty of open shots, we just didn’t make them. I think that was the biggest reason we lost today.”

Jaume Ponsarnau, Valencia coach: “We didn’t get going offensively in the first half. A lot of that was down to good defense from Bayern, who managed to stifle our Point Guards well and prevent us from getting any sort of offensive rhythm going. In the fourth quarter, we really found our passing game and through that we became much more efficient in our scoring.

Nihad Djedovic: “We fought so hard, but in the fourth it was like we forgot how to play basketball and we just lost our heads. We looked like a side who deserve to be at the bottom of the table and were lacking in confidence. Our opponents came back strong in the fourth and we just couldn’t cope mentally. We have to get over these mental weaknesses in the future and keep it together. We’ll continue to fight and we’ll be back!”

First Quarter

Maodo Lo, Nihad Djedovic, Vladimir Lucic, Danilo Barthel und Greg Monroe made up the starting five for coach Kostic. The Spanish team came forward well from the off but Bayern were alert to the danger, and went ahead themselves through some quick baskets from Monroe and Barthel. Not everything went the way of the German champions, but thanks to some good defence they managed to extend the lead to 9-4 early in the game. Sloppy turnovers from the Germans then played the Spaniards into the game though, and thanks to a 10-0 run, they went ahead 14-9. Bayern struggled to regain any sort of offensive momentum in the remainder of the first quarter and so they were down 15-13 as the buzzer sounded.

Second Quarter

Paul Zipser got the second quarter going with a bang: after a great steal from Mark Sisko, Bayern came forward and Zipser was all alone for the slam. Bayern had luck on their side as the visitors struggled to make their shots, but they used it to their advantage as they went back ahead with the score at 19-15. Sisko became an effective playmaker for Bayern, providing some good passes and plenty of assists for his teammates, which lead to Bayern going in to the half with a six point lead at 30-24.

Third Quarter

The visitors came out of the locker room looking fresh and, after an 8-0 run to begin the second half, put themselves back in the lead – time out Kostic. It took the German side over three minutes in the third quarter to finally get themselves a basket thanks to Greg Monroe. Bayern showed plenty of character and really had all the momentum in the game, which was punctuated thanks to Petteri Koponen who scored the team’s first shot from downtown at the eleventh attempt to make it 37-35. Bayern really started to find their rhythm, much to the delight of the fans as Josh Huestis scored a quick basket to make it 41-36 and force the Spanish side to take a time-out. The game then took a turn in terms of quality and left much to be desired, although it did stay somewhat exciting after a few moments of high tension on the floor. Thanks to a fantastic three from almost 8 metres by Koponen, the hosts went up 46-45 as the teams headed into the fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Efficiency went somewhat by the wayside in the fourth quarter as the game picked up in intensity. The lead changed six times in four minutes as both teams struggled to put the other away. A huge three from Lucic was closely followed by a spectacular block from Matthias Lessort, sending the Bayern fans in the stands into raptures. The Spanish team stayed in the game though, grabbing plenty of offensive rebounds to give themselves those vital second chances. Bayern coach Kostic called a time out after the team went behind 55-52. The game was truly on a knife’s edge as Bayern tried everything they could to get themselves back in front, but the shots simply wouldn’t fall. The Munich men seemed to lose their heads as a fatal 8-0 run came in from the Spaniards. Bayern had plenty of open shots as the game was drawing to a close, but a certain self-belief seemed to be lacking and shots failed to find the bottom of the net. Hope was almost restored just 50 seconds before the end as Sisko quickly cut the deficit to 62-57, but a steal from Valencia shortly after sealed the fate of the game as Bayern were condemned to defeat.