Bayern puts up a fight in 80-72 loss against FC Barcelona

The Bayern Basketball team, which continues to be shorthanded, put up a great fight against the favorites FC Barcelona, but are still waiting for their first success in the top division after two games: Head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team, which never gave up, lost to last year's EuroLeague finalists 80-72 in an intense duel in front of almost 4,000 spectators at the Audi Dome. The Spanish champion's defense showed its effectiveness over the course of the game against the small Munich rotation.

The Cup winner, Bayern, started well and led for 16 minutes (28-27). However, a 10-0 run in the two minutes before the break gave the title contender a clear advantage. The hosts' self-confidence suffered noticeably in this phase - but in the final quarter (25-17), they almost embarrassed the star ensemble once again with a spirited fight and even came within six points (74-68/38).
Gavin Schilling was the first to return from Munich's "sick camp" and made his first appearance in the Bayern jersey. Top scorer was Darrun Hilliard with 18 points.

The BBL continues on Sunday with another home game, starting at 15:00 against Braunschweig. Like FCBB, the team from Lower Saxony also reached the Cup quarterfinals last week with former Bayern guard Robin Amaize scoring 25 points in the 97-77 win over Goettingen.

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Points per game Bayern - Barcelona: 15-16, 18-28, 14-19, 25-17.

Stats: :Two-point shooting: 61 % (FCBB) // 66 % (Barcelona); Three-point shooting: 36 % // 50 %; Free-throw shooting: 7 0% // 80 %; Rebounds: 19 // 22; Assists: 14 // 18; Turnovers: 15 // 17.

Quotes:

FCBB head coach, Andrea Trinchieri: "They were better. We couldn't find a way to get the offense going against their defense. They deserved to win. We fought, but it was definitely not enough. Congratulations to Barcelona. We were well in the game for 18 minutes. In the last two minutes of the second quarter we gave the game away. But we fought hard and got ourselves back into the game. We had a lot of problems on offense and when you don't score anything up front, it's very hard to stay at the same level on defense. The good thing is that Gavin Schilling is back. It was his first EuroLeague game, so you can't expect too much. But he gave us good minutes. How it looks with the other players, I don't know."

Augustine Rubit: "Before halftime, we let them have the momentum and allowed easy baskets. We couldn't quite make up for that. We won the second half, but they were too far away. Obviously we are fighters, but we have to be smart about it and be ready next time without mental mistakes. We miss valuable players, but we just have to fight without them now. When they come back, we will see the difference."

Zan Mark Sisko: "We're still missing several players, of course, but we're always close, although maybe not close today. But the last two minutes before the break cost us the game, we had a blackout there. But we will get better." 

Barcelona head coach, Sarunas Jasikevicius: "I am very happy. I said to my team that this is a great victory for us, because there are many teams coming to Munich and very many will still lose here. Because Bayern is very strong at home, so again, congratulations to our team. Our defense was very solid today."

Game recap:

FCBB coach Andrea Trinchieri started the first EuroLeague game in front of home spectators in exactly 582 days with Corey Walden, Nick Weiler-Babb, Deshaun Thomas, Augustine Rubit and Darrun Hilliard. Bayern was immediately at operating temperature and impressed the enthusiastic fans with a spirited defense, 4-0 after two minutes of play. But the Spaniards lived up to their excellent reputation and stayed on the heels of the Munich squad (10-7/6). Rokas Jokubaitis turned up the heat, scoring six straight points to give Barca the 13-13 equalizer (8). The point guard scored nine points in the first quarter and was almost solely responsible for Spain's narrow lead - 16-15.

The game clearly gained class, as the pace increased and the lead changed with every basket (20-19/11). As in the first quarter, the guests gained confidence and reeled off their attacks in a focused and successful manner to take a small lead (25-23/14). Bayern took up the fight and repeatedly snatched the lead (28-27/16), but Barcelona has the ex-NBA star Mirotic in its ranks, who knows how to turn the tide effortlessly (32-28/16.). After six lead changes in the second quarter, the FCBB's shots were no longer falling. This immediately resulted in a large lead for Barcelona - 44-33 after 20 minutes.

Munich came out of the lockerroom freshly focused and put the champions of Spain under powerful pressure as a three-pointer by Walden and a bucket by Thomas reduced the gap to 44-38 (22). But Barcelona again had effective answers ready, which resulted in a quick 5-0 run (49-38/24). The Munich team had a hard time against the crisp defense of the Catalans, who mercilessly showed their extraordinary playing quality in the front court. The gap grew - 56-41 (27). Gavin Schilling received his first assignment in the EuroLeague, but the FCBB could not find its rhythm and fell behind 19-5 in this phase. At the end of the third quarter, Hilliard and Schilling cut the deficit to 63-47.

The crowd pushed the Trinchieri team forward. Rubit played hard and the fans gave everything. But the Barca defense stood like a wall that seemed insurmountable. Sisko took a three-pointer and scored and Barcelona's coach Jasikevicius immediately took a timeout (63-52/33). Sisko scored again, but the Spaniards did not allow their lead to reach the single digits (68-55/34). The FCBB, weakened by replacements, did not give up, victory was still within the realm of possibility. However, the Spaniards remained impressively cool and proceeded according to the motto "ball to Mirotic", who converted (71-57/36). But the FCBB were still alive! A surge led to a 7-2 run and a single-digit deficit (73-64/37). Barca took a lot of time off the clock, but Bayern just didn't give up. Two buckets from Hunter and Thomas brought the fans out of their seats (74-68/79 seconds left). But it wasn't enough, after a great fight they only just lost out to a top European team

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(c) Krug, Eirich, Stickel, Pahnke