Bayern bounces back and upsets Baskonia

On and on we go! Only two days after the unforutunate BBL loss vs Berlin (80-79), the Bayern basketball team bounced back with an inspiring 92-79 win against the third-place team in the EuroLeague, Baskonia Vítoria. In front of 3,800 fans in the Audi Dome, Winston (16), Rubit (13), Weiler-Babb (12), Walden (11), who was still missing against Berlin, Giffey (11) and also Hunter (11 each) scored in double digits in the seventh win and the first game of thesecond half of the season.

Vote for the game's MVP 

On Wednesday, Munich travels to Istanbul for the clash with Fener (Thurs., 18:45), and on Sunday they play in Ludwigsburg. The next home game - after a total of four away games - is the big "Music meets Basketball" event with Clueso at the EuroLeague matchup against Virus Bologna on Friday, January 27th.

TIckets

Eight threes in ten minutes

The score was 19-6 after five minutes on Tuesday evening as the FCBB came onto the court in high spirits, netting eight of ten three-pointers in the first quarter (34-24). It was only top scorer Howard (21) who brought the Basques back into the game (34-33/14th).

In the third quarter two blocks by Gillespie and three-pointers by Walden made it 75-57 for Bayern (30th) and Munich never looked back. 

Score per quarter Bayern- Baskonia: 34-24, 18-20, 23-16, 17-19.

Stats:  Two-point shooting: 37 % (FCBB) // 48 % (Baskonia); Three-point shooting: 58 % // 30 %; Free-throw shooting: 91 % // 85 %; Rebounds: 36 // 35; Assists: 14 // 21; Turnovers: 12 // 13

Quotes:         

Andrea Trinchieri: "I'm most pleased that six players scored in double figures and we found a way to replace what Obst and Lucic give us on offense. We stuck together as a team and everyone did their part. (...) "This was a great game, with team offense and defense. We had problems with Howard during the second quarter, but we adjusted. (...)

We deserved the win because we played with great energy and intensity. We wanted to take open shots and we took a lot of open threes and made them. (...) We are alive, we are fighting and we are competitive. We don't look at the standings even now, they are too complicated. Baskonia was first place and won everywhere - today we controlled the game. Did you see the ranking in this game? No. (...)

We are the crew of a submarine, maybe a yellow submarine, and we are on a mission, 250 meters below the surface. Nobody sees us, we don't see anybody, we just keep working hard and trying to follow the mission. (...) In March we will surface and see how many ships are in front of us and how many are behind us. (...) Until then we have to keep fighting, improving, finding solutions despite the players we are missing. (...)

Without Lucic and Andi, we lack twelve, 13 threes with a very good quota of over 40 percent. So everyone should take two more and that was the result today. I am happy for my players and for the club for the way we play regardless of the opposition. (...) In the second half we defended better against Howard, he only scored six points."

"The fans picked us up very well".

Othello Hunter: "We went into the game focused, that was the main thing. They embarrassed us in the first matchup and we wanted to take revenge for that and protect our hall - just have fun. After Fenerbahce, we'll take the defense, the energy and the open shots with us. And we won't give up."

Niels Giffey: "It was a very good start to the game today. We just did everything well offensively at the beginning. 34 points - that's a third of the points. That was very nice. The ball was shared well, a lot of people had the ball in their hands, and - I think you saw that - it was fun how we played today. Othello is a beast, his blocks, his dunks and his shots - it's great what he brings. And on top of that, he's a cool guy who has an extreme inner calm. That helps us enormously. It was a good home game, the atmosphere was good. The fans also picked us up very well. Now we go to Istanbul and hope we can play a good game there."     

Game recap:

FCBB coach Trinchieri's starting lineup included Cassius Winston, Nick Weiler-Babb, Isaac Bonga, Augustine Rubit and Freddie Gillespie. Rubit immediately proved his current terrific form and sank the first three-pointer to make it 3-2 (2nd). The FCBB put the pedal to the metal against the surprise team of the EuroLeague and overran the guests with gallant defense and three-pointers. After four minutes, the 15-4 run forced the coach of the Spaniards to call a timeout. Baskonia had their answer and drilled two threes forcing a timeout from Trinchieri (19-12/7th). The Munich team answered the 8-0 run of the guests with two threes to make it 25-14 (8th). Turnovers prevented a higher lead but who would have thought that Bayern would lead 34-24 after the first quarter thanks to a crazy 80 percent from three (8 of 10)?

Weiler-Babb stops a 9-0 run

Turnovers and missed shots favored the guests and Markus Howard in particular was running hot with 15 points and kept his team in the game (34-33/14th). Weiler-Babb stopped the Spanish 9-0 run and Munich regained its rhythm through defense - the lead growing again thanks to a 9-2 run of their own (43-35/17th). Once again, however, turnovers made it difficult to hold on to the lead, as Baskonia switched at lightning speed and knew how to score  (45-42/19th). But again the Munich team reacted well and in the last minute towards halftime put on a 7-2 spurt  to take the lead to 52-44.

München controls the game

Cassius Winston continued his hot play and was a big reason why Bayern continued to hold the lead early into the second half (56-48/22nd). Gillespie impressed defensively with two blocked shots in a row while Giffey was perfect from the free-throw line (61-50/24th). Now Baskonia had lost the thread and the FCBB maintained the double-digit lead. Harris and Hunter increased the lead to 65-51 (26th). After a great offensive rebound by Weiler-Babb, Walden sank the three-pointer and forced a time-out from Baskonia (68-51/27th). Jaramaz converted the 19th and the 20th free throw for the strong-shooting Bayern squad to make it 70-55 (28th). After the entertaining third quarter for the fans, FCBB led 75-60.

Outstanding team performance

The Munich team made mistakes, but the guests could not punish them with points. Weiler-Babb then hit the next three-pointer to the excitement of the crowd to make it 78-62 (32nd). When once again Othello Hunter hit a three-pointer against man-defense as the 24-second clock expired, the Audi Dome resembled a madhouse (81-62/33rd). Baskonia, of course, did not give up and went on a 7:0 run - time-out Trinchieri (81-69/34th). As so often, the break served its purpose, Bayern came together and went on their own 7-0 run (88-69/36th). The Munich team now acted confidently and as a team again, and gradually it became clear to Baskonia that there was nothing to be gained here in the Audi Dome. Time was skilfully taken off the clock and the fans rose appreciatively and celebrated the seventh victory in the Euroleague. 

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