Sensation on late Wednesday evening! The basketball team of FC Bayern Munich surprisingly defeated the favorite, Real Madrid in a an exciting game with a final score of 95-86. Thanks to a thrilling team performance the Munich squad earnd a major coup in Europe's premier class and are now 3-2. In front of 6,500 spectators in the completely sold-out Audi Dome, the German champions successfully defied the Spanish champion in the first half and won both quarters. In the second half the residents of Munich also impressed with their determination on defense and with team-oriented play on offense.
Five Bavarians scored in double-digits, Greg Monroe was the top scorer on the memorable evening with 18 points. The hosts shot well all night and had an impressive 23 assists.
On Friday evening (21:00 CET/MagentaSport), the Munich team will already be competing on the road against the Spanish club, Baskonia Vítoria-Gasteiz. The next home games in the EuroLeague will follow in "Greek Week" on the 19th and 22nd of November against the Greek heavyweights Olympiakos Piraeus and Panathinaikos Athens.
Point per quarter Bayern - Real: 22-20, 19-18, 26-19, 28-29.
Facts & Figures - Two-point shooting: 64% (FCBB) // 60% (Madrid); Three-point shooting: 40% // 30%; Rebounds: 35 // 32; Assists: 23 // 20; Turnovers: 12 // 14. - Injuries: TJ Bray (post foot surgery), Josh Huestis (knee pain), Mathias Lessort (foot ligament injury).
FCBB stats: Greg Monroe (18 points), Danilo Barthel (17/5 rebounds), Petteri Koponen (15), Maodo Lo (10/7 assists), Leon Radosevic (10), Paul Zipser (9), Vladimir Lucic (8/6 rebounds), Alex King, Nihad Djedovic, Diego Flaccadori and Sasha Grant.
Quotes:
FCBB head coach, Dejan Radonjic: "Congratulations to my team and many thanks to our fans who supported us outstandingly for more than 40 minutes. We played very well today, especially on offense. 23 assists were the key to our success. Now we can be happy about the great victory for a moment, but then we have to prepare for the game on Friday at Baskonia. We'll travel on Thursday and see who can play. If Nihad can play, we'll have to see, he didn't play in the second half because he had pain in his leg."
Madrid head coach, Pablo Laso: "Congratulations to Bayern on their victory. They were better in all respects and we didn't manage to turn the game around. They have a lot of good players who score and we didn't manage to play as a team today. At home Bayern is hard to beat, we knew that before, but we defended very badly today. They played team basketball and we too often played solo basketball, one against five."
Greg Monroe: "That was a strong team performance from us, this time we played very well on defense as well as on offense. The guards put us inside players to great use today. Now we have to rest for a bit, but we'll be back on Friday."
1st quarter
Coach Radonjic began the game against the star ensemble with Maodo Lo, Nihad Djedovic, Vladimir Lucic, Danilo Barthel and Greg Monroe. Both teams came in with two victories and two losses each - so the winner of this evening would be in the top third of the table. Monroe scored the first basket of the evening against the giant Walter Tavares. The spectators in the crowded hall in the Audi Dome enjoyed a lively and entertaining start and in almost every attack points were scored and after six minutes the game was tied 13-13. DeMarcus Nelson moved dynamically into the Madrilenean zone and to take the first lead at 17-15. Petteri Koponen thrilled the crowd 23 seconds before the end of the first quarter with a big-time three and at the end of one Bayern had the lead at 22-20.
2nd quarter
The Munichers fought with passion and kept the Spaniards defensively in check, offensively the sights of the distance shooters was now very well adjusted. Paul Zipser and Petteri Koponen scored from beyond the three-point line and Pablo Laso was forced to take a time-out, Bayern up by eight. A Lo three gave the first double-digit lead but the Bavarians suddenly couldn't buy a bucket and the visitors took advantage of the weakness immediately and went on a 7-0 run to bring the score to 33-30. Monroe stopped the run with a basket but two minutes later, the winner of the EuroLeague 2018 managed to take the lead, 36-35. Both teams defended brilliantly at this point before Leon Radosevic pumped up the crowd with two huge dunks to re-take the lead. At the end of the first half the German Champions lead against the Spanish 41-38.
3rd quarter
The Bavarians started the secnd half with a 6-0 run to take a nine-point lead. Anthony Randolph, however, made life difficult for the Bavarians with seven points in a row but Lo again showed up big with a three to reclaim a seven-point advantage, 52-45. In a game that saw some beautiful basketball, Bayern managed to hold onto the lead as the defense did their job against the favored Spaniards. Real looked continually more frustrated and with 70 seconds left in the third quarter, Pablo Laso took a time-out to stem the tide. Leon Radosevic put a finishing touch on the quarter with a pretty bucket and after three quarters Bayern held a 10-point lead at 67-57.
4th quarter
Rudy Fernandez joined the action with a three but Zipser countered near the basket with an effective head pump and basket. A short time later, the national player again impressed with a spectacular fadeaway shot against Fernandez, 74-63. Danilo Barthel sank a three from the corner in front of the Spanish bench and the hall felt like it could explode from the excitement. But Madrid was not beaten in any way and was suddenly within striking distance again after a 7-0 run. The fans rose and pumped their energy onto the floor, but Madrid worked their way up point by point. Three minutes before the end they were on the heels of the Munich team at 81-78 but Koponen and Lo scored within 30 seconds of each other and forced Madrid to take a time-out, 85-78. Monroe roared to the basket and the defense of the Bavarians was the decisive factor and made the life of the guests as hard as possible. In front Koponen didn't miss a single shot from the free-throw line and Lucic (32 minutes playing time) fought like his hair was on fire and was successful on the offensive boards and helped to again take a 10-point advantage. Madrid tried everything once more and scored five fast points in 28 seconds but Barthel got an important offensive rebound and drilled the high-pressure free throws. Bayern had pulled it off, one of their biggest regular season wins in recent memory!
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Photo credit: Stickel, Eirich, Rauchensteiner, EuroLeague
