Jaramaz and Bayern force overtime win

FC Bayern's basketball team scored its second BBL home win in overtime on Sunday with an energetic performance. After 45 exciting minutes, the score was 71-64 against the Giessen 46ers in front of 3,000 fans at the Audi Dome. National player Andreas Obst made his debut with his first minutes for the cup winner after recovering from illness.

In a very physical duel, the FCBB lacked freshness for a good three quarters after their five-day trip to Russia and above any rhythm on offense.  The score was 52-47 in favor of Giessen with four minutes to go and 56-52 with 65 seconds to go, but top scorer Jaramaz (18) forced overtime, in which the Serb could hardly be held back.

On Thursday (19:00./MagentaSport), the FCBB will play Lithuania's double winner Zalgiris Kaunas in the EuroLeague, followed by an away game in Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Sunday.

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Points per quarter Bayern - Giessen: 1714, 11-13, 15-21, 13-8; 15-8.

Stats: Two-point shooting: 46% (FCBB) // 42% (Gießen); Three-point shooting: 17% // 35%; Free-throw shooting: 75% // 50%; Rebounds: 54 // 36; Assists: 10 // 15; Turnovers: 18 // 20.

Quotes:       

Andrea Trinchieri: "This is a very important and very good win. We had a hard week and today we had half the speed of Giessen. That's why we had our problems on offense. But we had a decent defense and that's the best thing that could happen to us at this moment: a win in a super-tough game to build more confidence. Giessen played as expected, with a lot of tempo, a lot of shots. When you don't practice and have a short rotation, that's a factor. Still, this is one of the wins that tastes best since I've been here. The game had taken a turn over the duration that we were going to lose it. As happens to many EuroLeague teams when they've had a back-to-back week. We had two games in Russia that deflated us mentally and physically. But we found a way to win a game today, even though it seemed impossible at times. We missed 15 wide-open shots today, so you lose your confidence and the court gets smaller and smaller. Again, I thank my players for being able to win. (...). Andi Obst was without rhythm - you could see that he was out for three and a half weeks. I pushed him to play, because we need these games for that. He had a practice yesterday of 35 minutes, so you can't evaluate his performance. (...) Our offense is not at the level we want it to be, but that's not the players' fault. I hate boring people, but now I'm being very boring: what we've had to start the season would kill anyone. Your starting point guard is out for four weeks, Hunter is out for three weeks. Then Covid comes in, and Leon, who we expected back at the end of September, got an infection in the hospital after his successful surgery there. Only Zipser's absence was to be expected. Then the games start and five or six of your German players are missing. How can you build a new team? It's not the players' effort, it's the situation, the parameters of which are crazy. That's why this was a win we needed now, after suffering and being behind."

Ognjen Jaramaz:  "I can say that I was not good in the game until the fourth quarter. But the most important thing for the team is that we won the game together. We actually defended quite well in the first half, but offensively we had problems and didn't hit enough shots. But we achieved our goal and won the game. Of course, we also have a lot of room to improve. For our self-confidence, the win is huge because we had some good games that we lost. What I like about this day is the cohesion despite the bitter defeats. We have excellent team chemistry and will definitely grow even closer together."

Game Recap:

Trinchieri started with Corey Walden, Jaramaz, Nick Weiler-Babb, Thomas and Gavin Schilling. Three shots, three goals as Bayern started on fire, 9-0 after three minutes. The defense was on its toes, the guests only managed their first shot attempt (!) after more than three minutes. The Munich team had the game under control, even if the guests now fought back around the warmly welcomed former Bayern player, John Bryant (17-9/8.). The latter played a weighty role and scored five points in a row to make it a17-14 Bayern lead after the first quarter.

When Trinchieri takes a timeout after 27 seconds, it shows maximum dissatisfaction with the way his team is playing. Giessen had moved to within one point (17-16) but the FCBB stabilized the defense and pulled away again (22-16/14.). Djedovic and Obst, who had been missing recently, were given playing time, but overall the rhythm did not really want to develop. A Djedovic three-pointer amped up the crowd but two quick buckets by the 46ers prompted Trinchieri to call another timeout (26-24/19). The effect of the meeting was not the one hoped for and Giessen grabbed the lead for the first time (27-26/20). Augustine Rubit was fouled two seconds before halftime while shooting and regained the lead with two converted free throws - 28-27.

Trinchieri breathed a little more life into his troops, but it was not really convincing. When Giessen tied the game at 34-34 the fans reacted to try to get their team energized. But that didn't help either, the FCBB was off its game and helped the opponent to gain the upper hand with turnovers (39-36/25.). Iso play was not the solution to the problem and Giessen remained in front (40-38/28.). Finally Obst scored, his sixth three-point attempt found the target (41-40/28.). But Giessen had tasted blood and believed they could accomplish the upset as they took a 48-43 lead after quarter three.

The first bucket in the final quarter was scored by the FCBB only after two minutes 50-45 Giessen. Nervousness increased noticeably and the guests resolutely countered anything Bayern threw at them on offense and the score remained unchanged for three minutes - until Nick Weiler-Babb went to the basket and scored to make it 50-47 (35). Crunch time had not yet arrived, and yet the spectators had long since stood and cheered the Munich squad on. With a two-point gap the FCBB was on the 46ers' heels and Thomas got the ball on an offensive rebound and scored to make it 54-52 (125 seconds left). After a successful stop, neither team could put the ball home and Giessen maintained the lead. Jaramaz took the initiative and equalized with four points in a row to make it 56-56 and send the game to overtime.

Ognjen Jaramaz now took control of the game and sank another three-pointer (60-57/41). Giessen's Blake equalized with a three-pointer followed byThomas hitting a free throw, which the guests earned by a technical foul. Once again, Jaramaz was unstoppable, as he scored the next six points and the FCBB took a decisive lead of 67-60 with 146 seconds left. The defense now worked to perfection and nipped all the 46ers' attacking attempts in the bud. The enthusiastic fans were rewarded for their great support with a victory for their squad.

(c) Eirich & Stickel