Playoffs clinched: FCBB wins 67-49 in Wurzburg

Welcome to the playoffs: On the 27th gameday, the Bayern basketball team became the third team to clinch the playoffs in the Bundesliga. The cup winners won the southern rivalry game in Wurzburg in front of 3,140 fans in the sold-out "Turnhölle" without any problems 67-49. Top scorers were Giffey (13) and Cheatham who finished the game with a double-double  (13/10 rebounds). 

The FCBB has thus reached the playoffs in every season (12) since their BBL promotion in 2011. As the likely third seed with a 21-6 record they would face the sixth seed (best-of-five mode 2-2-1). At the moment Ludwigsburg (5th), Goettingen (6th) are (7th) possible opponents

SCHEDULE

Home games against Kaunas and Bamberg

The final EuroLeague home game will take place on Friday evening (20:30) in the Audi Dome, as opponent Zalgiris Kaunas still has a chance to reach the quarterfinals on the last gameday. On Sunday (18:00), Bamberg comes to Munich in the BBL.

Tickets

Cheathams Double-Double

In Wuerzburg, however, Coach Trinchieri again had to rely on the short-handed eleven-man squad of recent weeks (without Rubit, Hunter, Harris, Seeley and Winston). The guests started with good ball movement and Gillespie dominance and managed an 18-10 lead (9th). Only the three-point shooting was not a success in the early going for Bayern (1/11) nevertheless they pulled away in the second quarter (22-9). In the third quarer (7-14) the scoring faltered for minutes, but the favorites found its rhythm again and put the game away.

Stast: Two-point shooting: 61% (FCBB) // 33% (Wurzburg); Three-point shooting: 18% // 40%; Free-throw shooting: 79% // 56%; Rebounds: 41//23; Assists: 23//11; Turnovers: 14//16

Quotes:

Munich head coach, Andrea Trinchieri: "We came here knowing that Wurzburg is fighting for the playoffs and had some good games recently. In the preparation we saw the good work of the coach: The team has a lot of discipline and plays basketball on both sides of the court, so we had to come with our top game. We played very solid defense, defended well against the two guards Whittaker and Hunt, who are very good scorers and we did a very good job there. We only slowed down in the third quarter. That's when Wurzburg played aggressively and we were sloppy. But I think we played a very professional, solid game to win away from home against a team that's in good shape. We're playing very good defense now towards the end of the regular season."

Niels Giffey: "I think we had a good first half where we started playing our style. We wanted to take the ball handlers out of the game a little bit. In the third quarter, Wurzburg had a run. They are also hot and still fighting for the playoffs. So it wasn't expected to be an easy game for us over 40 minutes. We sometimes missed a few open shots. But we did better again in the fourth quarter. The game plan is sometimes crazy. So it's good when we have games like this, where some of us play well and we can play ourselves into a rhythm."

Game recap:

On Easter Monday, Nick Weiler-Babb, Andi Obst, Paul Zipser, Isaac Bonga and Freddie Gillespie were the starting five for FC Bayern Basketball.  Both teams searched in vain for their rhythm in the opening minutes and Bayern found it in the paint where Gillespie dominated (8-4/5th minute).Wurzburg's Cameron Hunt woke up the 3,140 fans with a three-pointer But the guests, on the other hand, used their centers to perfection (8 assists) and decided the first quarter in their favor (18-12).

Even after the quarter break, Munich could rely on good ball movement. The sometimes easy and smooth looking passes under the basket found grateful recipients again and again. Even though Cheatham missed one or two shots, the FCBB had a hard time stopping the athlete. Stanley Whittaker, on the other hand, tried to keep his team in the game with individual actions - 30:21 (15th). But the third in the table adjusted to the isolation and did not allow any easy throws. Lucic and Giffey joined the offense and initiated a 12:0 run to end a dominant first half (40:21).

Bayern wird nachlässig, Würzburg schöpft Hoffnung

In der zweiten Halbzeit musste sich Coach Sasa Filipovski etwas einfallen lassen, um die magere Ausbeute in der Offensive zu verbessern. Viel mehr als ein schwerer Dreier von Felix Hoffmann wollte jedoch zunächst nicht gelingen. Auch wenn die Bayern ebenfalls ein wenig aus dem Tritt kamen blieb der Vorsprung konstant (45:24/24.). Die zunehmende Fahrlässigkeit gefiel Trinchieri allerdings nicht. Nach einem Fehler von Zipser nahm der Chefcoach die Auszeit. Die Hausherren nutzten die sechs Minuten ohne Punkte für einen eigenen 8:0-Lauf. Giffey erlöste den Favoriten kurz vor dem Ende des dritten Viertels, das aber eindeutig an Würzburg ging (47:35).

Munich secures playoffs in commanding fashion

In the final quarter Trinchieri's team started with renewed concentration - and the playoff aspirants were in trouble again. Cheatham got free to the basket twice and Giffey followed up from the three-point line. After 33 minutes, the lead was again clear 53-35. Cheatham earned his double-double with an athletic play that helped put a stamp on the game. Wurzburg on the other hand, didn't get much going. Only after five minutes did they manage to score again in the fourth quarter (56-37). Bayern won the game without any major problems and thus secured their place in the playoffs - 67-49.