Two days after their EuroLeague victory over French champion Villeurbanne (76-62), FC Bayern's basketball team also won convincingly against the Giessen 46ers in the Bundesliga: The 93-71 home victory in the Audi Dome was the sixth win in the sixth game and the Munich team is back at the top of the BBL. Head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team played a very respectable first half, but after the break the Hessians kept up their fight and kept the score almost even. All Bayern players scored and center Jalen Reynolds was the top scorer with a season-best 24 points in just 14 minutes. For the hosts, the three FCBB youngsters Sasha Grant, Matej Rudan and Jason George from their own junior pool were on the floor together for the first time ever in the second half. From the EuroLeague rotation, Nick Weiler-Babb, Nihad Djedovic and Vladimir Lucic did not play.
The FCBB now face a tough week with two EuroLeague duels in St. Petersburg and against Baskonia, as well as a BBL road game in Oldenburg on Sunday.
FC Bayern Basketball - Giessen 46ers 93-71
FCBB
Jalen Reynolds (24 Points), JaJuan Johnson (11/7 Rebounds), Wade Baldwin (10), Leon Radosevic (10), Diego Flaccadori (9), Jason George (6), D.J. Seeley (6), Robin Amaize (5), Zan Mark Sisko (4/8 Assists), Sasha Grant (4) Paul Zipser (2) und Matej Rudan (2).
Top scorer Giessen
Brandon Thomas (15 Points)
Referee
Clemens Fritz, Armin Mutapcic, Stefan Fingerling
Points per quarter Bayern - Giessen: 19-11, 32-20, 25-22, 17-18.
Stats: Two-point shooting: 60% (FCBB) // 47% (Giessen); Three-point shooting: 26% // 35%; Free-throw shooting: 73% // 93%; Rebounds: 39 // 28; Assists: 23 // 16; Turnovers: 10 // 20.
Quotes:
FCBB head coach, Andrea Trinchieri: "I would like to address two points today: My players performed very seriously and showed a good defense at the beginning. That helped us to control the game. We took the game and the opponent very seriously and performed the way you should against supposedly weaker teams. But I also want to praise Ingo Freyer and his team: they now know what it means to play every other day. With this rhythm, you sometimes don't know where you are or who you're playing against. But Giessen took the game seriously and also gave my young players important, intense minutes, it wasn't garbage time. I don't see that often and I want to congratulate Ingo and his players for that."
Jalen Reynolds: "My teammates did a good job of getting me in position and playing through me, I just had to finish. We now have to stay focused and train hard to be well prepared for each of the next games. Then we just have to perform and be consistent."
46ers head coach, Ingo Freyer: "Congratulations to Bayern. They are simply in a different league and a very strong team. They rotated well and also let the young players play a lot. Nevertheless, we made a step forward compared to the last game. We practiced certain rotations on defense and you could see that it was bearing fruit. Of course, we have one or two players who are completely physically inferior and Bayern exploits that mercilessly. That's very strong what they're doing there. I wish them good luck in the next games in the EuroLeague."
Game recap:
Wade Baldwin, D.J. Seeley, Robin Amaize, JaJuan Johnson and Leon Radosevic made up the starting lineup. It was a slow start on offense for both teams but at least the Munich team scored from time to time - 5-0 after three minutes. As in recent games, Bayern's dominance was based on a solid defense that was difficult to overcome. After seven minutes, the guests had scored just four points and the FCBB 14. After the first quarter in which the Giessen team could not get a grip on Reynolds in particular, they took a 19-11 lead.
Bayern moved the ball more briskly in quarter number two and looked for their bigs under the basket where Radosevic scored to take the score to 29-16 (14th). D.J. Seeley provided firepower from the outside and poured in points to take a big lead (43-25/18th). Munich's defense worked and produced numerous stops to take a commanding 51-31 lead at the break.
The first basket after the break came after more than two minutes of play when Diego Flaccadori scored to take the lead to 53-36. Baldwin restored the 20-point lead from the free-throw line before Reynolds provided a highlight with a monster dunk. Jason George also received BBL minutes. An 8-0 run by the 46ers annoyed Trinchieri and forced a timeout. Sisko scored to make it 71-51 (29th) and a Baldwin three-pointer increased it to 76-53 after the third quarter.
Munich kept Giessen in check with an extremely young lineup - at times the oldest Bayern player on the floor was 23 years young. George was successful from the free-throw line for a 79-58 lead - with that all Munich players had scored. Sisko laid on his eighth assist, George hit a three-pointer and again a two and the game was brought to a relaxed finish.
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Photo credit: Eirich, Rauchensteiner, Stickel
