FC Bayern's basketball team just missed pull of another big upset in the EuroLeague: Less than 48 hours after the tough win against St. Petersburg (82-80), head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team lost to the Spanish title favorites Real Madrid after a gutsy performance and five minutes of overtime, 81-76. In a high-intensity game, the Munich team took the lead in crunch time of regulation time after trailing for much of the game and also had a chance to win. In overtime Real, who had a game-free week behind them, played with stronger legs against the exhausted hosts, who were again missing Nihad Djedovic, Zan Mark Sisko and Robin Amaize with injuries. Their record is now 12-8. Center Jalen Reynolds was Bayern's top scorer 18 points.

The third game in five days is on Sunday afternoon: The up-and-coming Hamburg Towers will come to the Audi Dome for a BBL duel. In addition to MagentaSport, Sport1 will also broadcast live on free TV.

 

Points per quarter Bayern - Real Madrid: 15-23, 19-16, 16-12, 22-21/4-9.

Stats: Two-point shooting: 45% (FCBB) // 63% (Madrid); Three-point shooting: 34% // 19%; Free-throw shooting: 76% // 76%; Rebounds: 35 // 40; Assists: 15 // 20; Turnovers: 12 // 15.

Quotes:
Andrea Trinchieri: "Congratulations to Real Madrid, they won the game, but we fought with all the means at our disposal. Real simply has an outstanding player in Walter Tavares, who is playing with a lot of confidence right now. We couldn't stop him, but we're not the only ones who have this problem. He is simply a factor and is super long. Everything we tried against him didn't help. In all other aspects of the game, my players did an excellent job. We had a chance to win, but we gave that away - and then we just didn't have the energy to play overtime. We had a tough game against Zenit not even 48 hours earlier, and Real last played a week ago. The defeat is very painful, but we did everything we could. Maybe a few details were missing, a few better passes or better defense, but in terms of energy performance, commitment, will, desire and sacrifice, we really gave everything. Real won the game, but we shouldn't feel defeated. Because we fought very, very hard."

Pablo Laso: "I'm very happy that we won here, because Bayern is a very strong team and they can beat anyone - they proved that several times during the season at the highest level. They are very athletic and they play very hard. But in the end we acted very smart and found a way to control the game because we ran the ball well. I have a lot of respect for Andrea and his work here at FC Bayern Basketball and I wish him all the best for the rest of the season. What makes Bayern so special is that they always come back, they always believe in winning."   

Leon Radosevic: "In the end, we just didn't have any luck, but overall we fought well and played a good game. But Madrid is also a really strong team. We're characterized by the fact that we stick to our guns until the end, and we've won other games like that. Sunday is the next game, now we have to be focused against Hamburg."

Game recap:
Wade Baldwin, D.J. Seeley, Vladimir Lucic, James Gist and Leon Radosevic started against the ten-time EuroLeague champions. The FCBB managed to get off ot a good start with Gist and Baldwin scoring (4-0/1st). However, the Royalty of European basketball reacted immediately and turned on the turbo with a 12-2 run which forced Coach Trinchieri to call a timeout (12-6/6th). Munich couldn't put the bucket in the basket despite some good opportunities and were also sloppy with the ball (five turnovers). The Madrilenians played more focused and efficient and seven-footer, Walter Tavares was hard to stop - 23-15 after the first quarter.

Jalen Reynolds put himself in the spotlight both offensively and defensively and his personal 6-0 run prompted Madrid's coach Laso to call a timeout (25-21/15th). Bayern gained a more concentrated grip on the game and scrapped their way back to within two (27-25/16th).Los Blancos turned it up again, however, as expected, but the Munich team held its own and did not let the game be taken away from them. Two threes from Radosevic and Gist helped enormously. The Trinchieri team was well in the game with a score of 29-35 and within striking distance at the half.

Bayern took the fight to Real and came back to within two points (43-41/24th) mostly through strong defense. But the lead change wasn't meant to be as Real streaked to a 6-0 run (49-41/26th). Trinchieri drove his men loudly, and they defended every inch of their court tooth and nail but they struggled to score on the other end (51-43/28th). By the end of the third quarter Bayern had fought back to within one,  51-50.

The German squad toiled tirelessly but there was no match for the giant Tavares and the lead evaded them (56-55/32nd). A three-pointer by Nick Weiler-Babb finally brought a tie 59-59 (34th), but the turnaround on the scoreboard was not to be (61-61/35th). A beautiful basket by Baldwin against Tavares reduced the deficit again to one but open shots refused to drop and Madrid's Jaycee Carroll shocked the Munich team with two threes (70-63/38th). But the FCBB should never be written off: Lucic and Weiler-Babb countered with a three-pointer each and with 67 seconds left, Lucic sank another three to give Munich its first lead since the second minute of the game (72-70). Real equalized again and Baldwin's last pass under the basket could not be controlled by Gist who may have had a chance to win it. 

In overtime, the guests pulled away to 78-72 as the shot from the tired Bayern team just weren't falling. 33 seconds before the end of the extra minutes, the first points for Munich came from Reynolds at the free-throw line and then Gist. Too late.

TO THE SCHEDULE

Photo credit: Rauchensteiner, Gamel, Krug, Pahnke