After three road losses in a row, the basketball players of FC Bayern, who are still weakened by injury, have found their way back to success in the EuroLeague. After a spectacular finish against Olympiakos Piraeus, the German champions won 85-82 and celebrated their first victory ever in their fifth duel against the top Greek club. Now with four wins, the FCBB are solidly in the middle of the pack after nine games.
In front of 5,096 spectators, the German national players Maodo Lo (19), Danilo Barthel (18) and Paul Zipser together scored 50 points for Bayern. In the last nine minutes they made up a twelve-point deficit and Lo especially shone after and led the team to a great win after two bad quarter. Behind the 26-year-old, four more Munich players scored in double-digits, while Nihad Djedovic had to sit again due to injury.
The second part of the "Greek Week" in the EuroLeague against the Greek national champion .Panathinaikos Athens, will follow on Friday (22.11.) at 20:30 CET in the Audi Dome.
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Points per quarter Bayern - Piraeus: 23-16, 20-27, 12-19, 30-19.
Facts & Figures - Two-point shooting: 54% (FCBB) // 65% (Piraeus); Three-point shooting: 46% // 31%; Rebounds: 26 // 30; Assists: 19 // 12; Ball losses: 11 // 16. - Injuries: TJ Bray (foot surgery), Josh Huestis (knee pain) and Nihad Djedovic (muscular problems after knee stimulation).
FCBB stats: Maodo Lo (19 points/4 threes/7 assists), Danilo Barthel (18), Greg Monroe (15/7 Reb.), Vladimir Lucic (13/5 Reb.), Paul Zipser (13), Mathias Lessort (5), Diego Flaccadori (2), Alex King, Petteri Koponen, DeMarcus Nelson, Leon Radosevic, Sasha Grant.
Quotes:
FCBB head coach, Dejan Radonjic: "Congratulations to the players on an important victory. Today I have to especially thank the fans, they helped us a lot, especially in the final quarter. The beginning went well before we gave up too many easy points in the second quarter. In the last quarter everything was completely different, we defended very well again and hit some tough shots. And that's with the injury problems we have and the tight schedule, so I'm very happy with the team today."
Olympiakos head coach, Kestutis Kemzura: "It was a close, tough game that we lost today. Congratulations to Bayern, especially on their performance in the last quarter. They hit important threes and we had problems keeping the intensity high. Until then we fought well and were able to get a small advantage in the third quarter. But then we simply lost control."
Maodo Lo: "Unfortunately we lost our rhythm in the middle. But we knew that we could come back if we just stayed together and stayed within eight or ten points. That's exactly what happened, we quickly made a run in the last quarter and that gave us a lot of motivation. It's a great success because we're still missing some players."
Danilo Barthel: "The energy we were able to muster again in the fourth quarter, especially defensively, helped us after a sleepy start into the second half. And then we hit a few big shots and were able to get a few stops on the other side. The victory was very important, with another one on Friday we would be back to .500. Especially after the poor performances in the EuroLeague this was a reward for us today".
1st quarter
Maodo Lo, Vladimir Lucic, Paul Zipser, Danilo Barthel and Greg Monroe came hit the quart as the starters for the night. In the first minutes the visitors were more ready to play and took a four-point lead but Bayern reacted and Lo tied things up at four each. Lo then forced Olympiakos to take a time-out after hitting a three-pointer to take a 13-6 lead for the home team. Thanks to a strong defense (six turnovers for the Greeks in six minutes) the ball was moved quickly and cleverly, whereby the Bavarians rewarded themselves with a beautiful 9-0 run (17:6/7.). Olympiakos countered with a 5-0 run of their own and forced a time-out from Bayern. The first quarter ended with less momentum than the Germans would have liked but thanks to a four-point play by Lucic, they held a 23-16 lead heading into the second quarter.
2nd quarter
Greg Monroe's strengths under the basket were skillfully used and he reliably put the ball in the basket to retain a Bayern lead. However, a hot Taylor Rochestie caused the the home team some trouble towards the middle of the game and as the defense seemed a little sleepy, the Greeks got to within two points, 33-31. Monroe kept the Munich squad in the game and prevented any lead change. The basketball legend Vassilis Spanoulis came back on the court and gave his team five points in a row to take the first lead in a long time for Piraeus, 40-39. Zipser was able to score and the Greeks were only one point ahead at the break - 44-43.
3rd quarter
Bayern started with two turnovers but Lucic ended the lull with the goal to keep the Germans within three. The offense seemed a bit static and theGreeks played much faster forcing a time-out by the FCBB - 57-49. The break was not able to snatch the momentum from the guests and Bayern managed to fall behind by 10 with four minutes to play in the quarter. The Munich squad had a lot of bad luck at the end of the period and thus they had to hope for a come-from-behind win in the final ten minutes.
4th quarter
With increasing desperation, the Munich fans tried to pump up their team and a few threes gave everypne some hope that the home club could pull off a victory. After only three minutes the Greeks had reached the foul max and Bayern would undoubtedly get their chance at the charity stripe. Lucic and Barthel put the team on their backs and shortened the once big lead to 69-64 with five minutes remaining. A crazy three from Barthel electrified the fans and was part of a 7-0 run that re-took the lead, 72-71. Suddenly the defense for Munich was wide awake and effective and the team managed to take a five-point lead. After a three-point play by Piraeus, the self-confident Lo, bursting with confidence, sank his next three - the Dome exploded. Lo then served Monroe with a great assist and Bayern held a seven-point lead with 45 seconds remaining. Olympiakos didn't quit, however, and a bucket plus an offensive rebound kept them within reach - time-out Bavaria (82-77/34 sec.). The press defense by the Greeks was their undoing as Barthel scored under the basket with little effort (84-77) and thus the fourth victory in the EuroLeague was secured.
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Photo-Credit: Stickel, Eirich & Rauchensteiner