The basketball team of FC Bayern Munich lost 82-56 to the Spanish EuroCup winner Valencia Basket and thus missed a good chance to get back to .500 in the EuroLeague (now 3-5). It was their fourth loss in their fourth away game. In the atmospheric La Fonteta arena, the German champions never found their rhythm in front of 7,166 spectators, turned the ball over 21 times and had a bad evening as a whole. The return of Nihad Djedovic after his knee injury wasn't enough.
Early on Sunday at 15:00 CET in the Audi Dome Bayern will get back on the horse against the re-strengthened southern competitor Bayreuth (two BBL victories in a row). The FCBB will try to re-take their lead in the BBL after a hot start by Bayreuth. The next home games in the EuroLeague will then follow in "Greek Week", starting on Tuesday, November 19th, with the duel against the Greek heavyweight Olympiakos Piräus before their rival and national champion, Panathinaikos Athens, will compete in the Audi Dome on Friday, November 22nd (20:30 CET for both games).
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Points per quarter Bayern - Valencia: 16-20, 13-19, 20-18, 9-23.
Facts & Figures - Two-point shooting: 41% (FCBB) // 64% (Valencia); Three-point shooting: 39% // 36%; Rebounds: 24 // 30; Ball losses: 21 // 9; Ball wins: 5 // 14; Assists: 10 // 16th - Injured: TJ Bray (foot surgery) and Josh Huestis (knee pain).
FCBB stats: Vladimir Lucic (14 points), Maodo Lo (11), Petteri Koponen (9), Greg Monroe (4), Paul Zipser (4), DeMarcus Nelson (4), Alex King (3), Danilo Barthel (3), Nihad Djedovic (2), Leon Radosevic (2), Diego Flaccadori and Mathias Lesort (dnp).
Quotes:
FCBB head coach, Dejan Radonjic: "Valencia played a good game. Already the beginning was too soft for us and except for a short phase, Valencia controlled the game. 21 turnovers is a lot. Too many."
Petteri Koponen: "It certainly wasn't our best game today, especially in the second half. Valencia was better than us in every aspect of the game. We had a few chances to get back into the game, but we didn't make it because of our own mistakes. Our offense was the problem again and we didn't find any solutions and with less than 60 points you can't win".
Valencia coach, Jaume Ponsarnau: "We played the whole game with energy, which was very important for our defense. On offense we didn't always play well and focused, but we played good team basketball."
1st quarter
FCBB coach Radonjic started Maodo Lo, Petteri Koponen, Vladimir Lucic, Danilo Barthel and Greg Monroe. The Bavarians started the game with mistakes and turnovers and Maodo Lo scored the first points for Munich after almost four minutes of play. The Germans had both offensive and defensive problems and they were quickly 9-2 behind and were forced to take a time-out. Koponen picked the team up and kept them in the game with two threes. The visitors did not play well at this point (only on assist in the quarter), but at least they stayed in the game and kept up with the Spaniards after the first quarter only down four at 20-16.
2nd quarter
The FCBB stayed on the heels of the home team via a better defense and a dunk by Paul Zipser forced Valencia to take a time-out. The ball now flowed better in the Bayern offense and Lo gave his team the first lead with a three, 25-24. The joy, however, was brief as Valencia countered with a 6-0 run. Vladimir Lucic eventually ended the run with a massive dunk but it couldn't stem the tide and the Spaniards increased their lead to double-digits at halftime, 39-29.
3rd quarter
Seven points from Lucic within 90 seconds finally demonstrated some determination for Bayern and forced a Valencia timeout. Valencia made good use of the short break and countered with a 10-0 run, which Alex King broke with a three of his own. The Germans lost the their way a bit on both sides of the ball and were down big heading into the fourth quarter.
4th quarter
Valencia distanced themselves quickly and took a 65-50 lead with eight minutes to play. The momentum and above all the audience pushed the Spaniards, who stood with their backs to the wall in the EuroLeague. The Munich players seemed insecure, made inexplicable mistakes and were visibly dismayed after a 21-3 run by Valencia.
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Photo Credit: Stickel & Navarro/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images
