Bayern turns it up after the break and beat Oldenburg 79-58

The FC Bayern Munich basketball team won their home game against cup finalist Oldenburg with a commanding final score of 79-58 after a furious second half. The German champions thus remain the leader of the standings by two victories. In front of 4,702 spectators in the Audi Dome,  Bayern started the third quarter with a memorable 25-1 run after a downright sleepy first half  and didn't give the Baskets a chance in the last portion of the game either. Every player was given at least ten minutes of playing time, and Paul Zipser was the FCBB most top-scorer with 15 points.

The coming week will be a tough one for the FCBB: Wednesday evening at home in the premier class against Baskonia Vítoria-Gasteiz (March 4, 8.30 p.m.), the next day on to Spain to meet the title contenders FC Barcelona (Friday, March 6, 9 p.m.) - and on Saturday after the landing straight on to Bayreuth, where Sunday is already Tipp-Off at 3 p.m.

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Points per quarter Bayern - Oldernburg: 12-18, 17-23, 25-1, 25-16.

Facts & Figures - two-point shooting: 44% (FCBB) // 56% (Oldenburg); three-point shooting: 52% // 21%; free-throw: 89% // 91%; rebounds: 35 // 29; assists: 19 // 11; turnovers: 12 // 14 - Injured Petteri Koponen (muscular problems), Mathias Lessort (cd) and Nihad Djedovic (ankle).

Quotes:
FCBB head coach, Oliver Kostic: "We were asleep in the first half, but then talked about it intensively during the break. And it's good that the players also talk and show emotions. Because we had to change our energy level and our attitude - we did that in the second half. But you need 40 minutes to reach this level of energy. We got the energy after the break through defense which helped the offense. We didn't have a free-throw in the first half, we weren't aggressive at all and we shot badly - but when you got out rhythm on defense, everything else started to work. We have to learn our lessons from this game, whether in the EuroLeague or the Bundesliga: we have to be there with our energy from the first moment on. Alex has changed the energy on the court for us. Besides defense, his offensive part was great today. A great game from him."         

Mladen Drijencic, head coach Oldenburg: "We played well in the first half, both offensively and defensively. We knew that Bayern would then be more aggressive, more physical on defense. That's why we should have been faster, more aggressive ourselves and still stay within our concept to create our offensive options. Unfortunately, we didn't succeed, and that's why we experienced such a third quarter, with giving up three-pointers and turnovers. That put Bayern on the winning track and after that it was extremely difficult. It was almost similar to the cup final against Alba."

Alex King: "In the first half we played badly. We lost confidence and played tense. In the second half we came out well, played physically and took the shots that we had to take. We defended better, played fast and were more aggressive towards the basket. We have to continue this and the performance in St. Petersburg now and keep it up.

1st quarter
FCBB coach Oliver Kostic started with Maodo Lo, TJ Bray, Vladimir Lucic, Danilo Barthel and Greg Monroe. The latter brought the Munich team 4-0 in the lead with two quick goals close to the basket (1st minute of play). The Lower Saxons responded with a brisk 14-0 run thanks to bad decisions and turnovers from the Reds - time-out Bayern. To the horror of the fans, the interruption did not bring about a turnaround at first and only TJ Bray stopped the run of the guests with a triple for a 16-7 deficit. The champions countered with an 8-0 run and forced Oldenburg coach Mladen Drijencic to take  a time out (12:16/8.). After the first quarter of play, Munich was down 18-12.

2nd quarter
The Bavarians did well to increase the intensity by means of a 7-0 run they reached to within two points of the visitors. But the Oldenburgers decided against giving up the lead and were quickly ahead again. Kostic was not amused and asked for a time-out. A trio by Lo brought the Munich team closer but a three by Oldenburg's veteran Rickey Paulding and two by Philipp Schwethelm took a 10-point lead for the guests. When even Braydon Hobbs, who had said hello to FCBB managing director Marko Pesic before the game, scored a three-pointer, the guests were up 13 and high time for the next time-out for Bayern. The FCBB had their hands full with bad luck, and they found themselves behind 41-29 at the end of the half.

3rd quarter
Apparently, during the 15-minute break, a jolt had gone through the Reds: The "go-to-guy" was Zipser, who scored eight points in a row with one lay-up and two threes. In the Audi Dome, cheers were constant as the Munich team reduced their gap point by point and Alex King tied the game at 42-42. A determined play by Lo brought Bayern back into the lead for the first time since the third minute of play. The FCBB had finally found their rhythm and played like  they were in a frenzy. An intense defense gave them life and the quarter remarkably ended with Bayern scoring 25 and Oldenburg 1. 

4th quarter
"Energizer" Alex King tore the fans from their seats at the beginning of the last part of the game with two threes in a row (60-45). Bayern now was pushed by their outstanding performance in the third quarter  and were absolutely focused and committed. The EWE Baskets struggled against Bayern's intense defense and for their part had a hard time keeping up on that side of the floor. By reaching the team foul limit early on, the Munich team was able to score from the free-throw line and increase their lead - 70-51 after 36 minutes. The FCBB had the matter under control, even mascot Berni scored from half-court during a time-out and completed the entertaining evening for spectators in the Audi Dome. The game was decided, the 18th victory in the BBL under wraps.

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Photo credit: Rauchensteiner, Stickel, Eirich, Gamel