FC Bayern's basketball players have to wait for their 20th win in the Euroleague and the first in Spain: Head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team lost 83-76 at three-time EuroCup winner Valencia on the 31st gameday despite a good fight. However, the FCBB secured the important direct comparison thanks to their first matchup (90-79). Top scorer for the FCBB Bavarians, who are now 19-12, was Vladimir Lucic with 20 points.

In the first quarter, Valencia Basket hit seven of ten three-pointers and grabbed 21 rebounds, while the guests missed many open shots. After the break, Munich's body language was completely different - they needed only eight minutes to lead for the first time after a 17-0 run (59-54/28th). In the end, however, the guests ran out of steam; this time, the chase to catch up had simply consumed too much energy. In addition, defensive anchor James Gist was missing with an injury.

Munich will travel directly from Valencia to Hamburg on Friday as on Saturday evening, starting at 20:30 they will face the sixth-placed Towers. The recently promoted team from the previous season recently defeated Alba Berlin (90-75) - their fourth win in a row - and can already plan for the postseason in view of their record (14:9). 

Points per quarter Bayern - Valencia: 19-26, 14-20, 30-12, 13-25

Stats: Two-point shooting: 54% (FCBB) // 51% (Valencia); Three-point shooting: 35% // 44%; Free-throw shooting: 50% // 84%; Rebounds: 29 // 40; Assists: 16 // 23; Turnovers: 10 // 15.

Quotes:
Andrea Trinchieri: "It was a tough game. Our last four minutes of the second quarter cost us the game. We've been playing every 48 hours for three weeks and at the end we were dead, but able to produce a great third quarter. I knew we could have a quarter like that. However, we were down by 13 points because of poor body language, very poor reads of the game and a bad attitude. From a certain point in the third quarter we just played as individuals, not as a team, so we melted down. That cost us the game. In the end, we made mistakes, Valencia made mistakes, we hit big shots, Valencia hit big shots. But they had a cool head in the last three minutes and we didn't have the physical and mental energy to respond."

D.J. Seeley: "We didn't do what we're capable of in the first half. Mental focus is important to close out games. The little things decided the game. I haven't checked the standings yet. Everything is close, I think we need to win another game to clinch a playoff spot."

Game recap:
Trinchieri started Wade Baldwin, Nick Weiler-Babb, Vladimir Lucic, JaJuan Johnson and Leon Radosevic in Valencia. Led by ex-Bayern player, Derrick Williams, the Spaniards got off to a quick start but Bayern countered with three-pointers from Lucic and Baldwin. Valencia was on fire from the three-point line, already hitting four of five attempts to keep the lead (16-10/5th). In contrast to the hosts, the Munich team had bad luck and missed three free throws and shots. A 7-0 run by Valencia provided the first double-digit deficit, 23-12 (8th). Bayern stayed calm and countered with a 7-0, but the Spaniards' last three-pointer - the seventh in this quarter brought the Valencia lead to 26-19 after one quarter.

The FCBB managed to get open shots but the ball consistently refused to drop. The deficit grew again and Bayern was looking for a rhythm but struggled to find one, time-out Trinchieri (37-25/14th). The Spaniards were smart and drew foul after foul while the offensive efforts of Munich were hectic. The game became extremely physical and the referees refused to call a foul against Baldwin, who was driving to the basket. However, the FCBB now missed even the clearest chances and things could only go up from this point in the game. Trinchieri's men gave away only two turnovers in a half but were clearly behind in rebounding (21-) and three-point percentage (28% to 61%).

The Munich reaction came naturally, they fought like maniacs and the deficit was pushed into single digits (46-37/22nd). The man of the quarter was Vladimir Lucic, who scored nine points in five minutes (52-45/25th). Bayern seized the momentum, played themselves into a frenzy and forced the lead change in less than eight minutes in the third quarter. A Zipser three-pointer capped a 22-8 run for a 55-54 lead (28th). The guests were now completely in the flow as even Trinchieri stood amazed on the sidelines and could hardly believe what he was seeing. An unbelievable performance by his team, which put itself in position to win with a 17-0 run. 63-58 after the third period.

After 69 seconds of the final quarter, the FCBB coach already took a timeout since Valencia had tied the game at 63-63. Zipser sank the three-pointer, but the Spaniards, fighting for their last payoff chance, got their minds back in the game (66-65/34th). Mike Tobey put them in the lead but Reynolds pushed through to the rim and tied it up at 70-70 (36th). Every turnover was punished mercilessly and FCBB lost the thread in the decisive phase of the game conceding an 8-0 run to Valencia (78-70 Vaencia /38th). Baldwin came off the bench to score four straight points, but Derrick Williams hammered an alley-oop dunk to keep a six-point lead for Valencia. Baldwin hit to get to within four but the following three-pointer missed and the game was lost. 

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Photo credit: Navarro & Polo