Trinchieri's "Zombies" fight their way to a 77-66 victory

FC Bayern's basketball players showed an impressive reaction two days after the disappointing EuroLeague defeat in St. Petersburg (79-75): Head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team defeated Spanish champion Baskonia Vítoria-Gasteiz 77-6 and thus celebrated their tenth win of the season on gameday 15. In the second duel of this "Double-Week", both teams struggled with having 100% energy but Munich did just enough to pull it out. Baskonia came back to within four points in the third quarter, but Bayern's outstanding team defense didn't allow a basket from the visitors for a good six minutes at the start of the final quarter. Jalen Reynolds stood out with 21 points and nine rebounds from a team that was again without its top scorer Vladimir Lucic (back).

The December marathon continues on Sunday, when Bayern takes on Oldenburg at 18:00. The EurtoLeague continues on Wednesday at Zalgiris Kaunas (19:00).

Points per quarter Bayern - Baskonia: 18-15, 20-15, 20-20, 19-16.

Stats: Two-point shooting: 49% (FCBB) // 35% (Baskonia); Three-point shooting: 35% // 25%; Free-throw shooting: 66% // 95%; Rebounds: 36 // 41; Assists: 16 // 18; Turnovers: 5 // 12.

Quotes:
Andrea Trinchieri: "Today I told my players that I am a happy coach of a group of zombies. Because in the last quarter you could see how exhausting the last weeks were. We were barely able to move, they almost had to run uphill. Baskonia had one more day off than us, they played on Tuesday, we played on Wednesday. We weren't back in Munich until 5 a.m. on Thursday morning, we didn't get much sleep and only had a short training session to prepare for the game. Nevertheless, my players managed to muster enough energy to win the game! I am very proud. We gave everything, it wasn't necessarily a nice game, but a very difficult game with a lot of quick plays and very physical. Baskonia has big guards and big men in general, on defense we had to go above and beyond - we did that excellently for 40 minutes. It was an excellent bounce-back win. We didn't shine, but every one of my players that was on the court gave it their all. We found energy at the end that we didn't have at all. Jalen had a very bad game in St. Petersburg, I'm sure he wanted to pay something back to his team. This is the best way to come back, I'm very happy for him."

Jalen Reynolds: "We had a bad taste in our mouths because of the tough loss in St. Petersburg. We wanted to show a reaction to that tonight, and we did with our energy and determination."

Game recap:
Wade Baldwin, Nihad Djedovic, Robin Amaize, JaJuan Johnson and Leon Radosevic made up the starting five, which struggled to find an offensive rhythm. Leon Radosevic hit the first shot after more than four minutes, a three-pointer, 5-3 Baskonia. Wade Baldwin set the tone and led his team back with points and assists. In what was expected to be a defense-heavy game, it did not disappoint However, Paul Zipser was immediately up to speed and made his first contact with the ball for a successful three-pointer (10-8/8th minute). The Munich team now got going and led 18-15 after the first quarter.

Bayern was all in at both ends of the court, and the reward for their efforts was a 6-0 run and a 24-15 lead (14th). Jalen Reynolds was the dominant player on the court, drawing fouls and scoring reliably up front. Baldwin's layup gave them the first double-digit lead (28-17/14th). Baskonia had difficulties to overcome the agile and attentive defense of Munich and the FCBB continued to have success on offense. Radosevic collected eight points in this phase and contributed significantly to the clear lead - 38-23 (18th). After a timeout by Baskonia, however, the Munich team suddenly lost the thread and conceded a 7-0 run but still led 38-30 at halftime.

Baldwin put his stamp on the game with five points and Bayern continued to score (45-32/23rd). D.J. Seeley offered an impressively solid and error-free performance and his three-pointer took the lead to 50-39. The Spaniards increased the pressure and worked their way up point by point but the German squad fought back with all their might against the Spaniards, who were getting stronger and closed in on four points. Paul Zipser's three-pointer at the end of the third quarter was worth its weight in gold - 58-50.

The FCBB kept the pressure on and defended magnificently and Baskonia remained without a bucket for several minutes. This resulted in an 11-0 runwhich should have been even more significant, as Baskonia remained without a basket for more than six minutes (65-50/35th). Reynolds provided a spectacle by spinning around his defender and crushing the ball into the basket over a defender (67-54/37th). Munich finished well and ended with another huge win.

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Photo credit: Eirich, Rauchensteiner, Pahnke