Bayern advances in the Cup after defeat of Bamberg

Just one win away from the Cup Top Four: The Bayern Basketball team won the German Cup quarterfinal in Bamberg 85-68 In front of 4,011 spectators. Andrea Trincheri's team showed a good defensive performance and only had seven turnovers. Walden (20), Lucic (14), Winston (14), Hunter and Weiler-Babb (10 each) scored in double figures.

It's now getting really tricky for Bayern: FC Barcelona on Tuesday (Oct. 18) and Olimpia Milan on Thursday (both at 20:30) are two top EuroLeague teams who will visit Munich's Audi Dome within 48 hours, and the week ends with a tough BBL game in Hamburg on Saturday night.

Tickets for Barcelona und Milan!

In Bamberg, the FCBB was without Bonga, Harris, Sisko and, for a short time, Zipser (cold) but was able to pull away to 39-26 in the second quarter (16th). At the beginning of the fourth quarter the score was 72-52 (32nd).

FCBB head coach, Andrea Trinchieri: "First of all I would like to thank Bamberg for the warm welcome, it touched me. We had incredible success here (...) and I wish Bamberg and Coach Oren all the best. We had something to lose in this game and we didn't shine. But we were really on our game and knew what to do. Our two best rebounders were two guards, we distributed the responsibility and energy well. We controlled the game and deserved the victory. (...) Ea was not easy, but for you to have it easier you have to be as committed as a team as we were today. Everyone had their number of throws, rebounded and Gates had his moments. I'm very happy about that because that's the only way for an away game between Virtus, Barcelona and Milan. For that you need a team and you can't depend on an individual performance."

Corey Walden: „Das war ein guter Teamerfolg heute. In der Defensive sind wir gut ins Spiel gekommen. Wir haben unser Bestes gegeben, um das 40 Minuten durchzuhalten. Ich meine, das ist uns recht ordentlich gelungen. Dann haben wir uns auch viele gute Würfe erarbeitet und den Vorsprung vergrößert. Gegen wen es jetzt geht, ist egal, denn wir werden bereit sein. Wir erwarten immer einen Sieg, auch gegen Barcelona und Mailand. Das wäre schon super, wenn uns das gelingen würde. Wir werden jetzt regenerieren, uns erholen und darauf fokussiert sein.“

Game recap:

FCBB head coach Andrea Trinchieri tackled the tough cup task starting Cassius Winston, Nick Weiler-Babb, Vladimir Lucic, Augustine Rubit and Freddie Gillespie. Captain Lucic put his stamp on the first minutes of the game, scoring five points almost single-handedly to take a 7-3 lead (3rd minute of play). Weiler-Babb stopped a 7-0 run of the Bamberg team with a two-pointer to make it 10-9 for Bamberg (5th minute). The defense of the hosts left plenty of space for the FCBB, but the latter did not know how to use the generous offer and missed even the most open shots. Bayern repeatedly created second chances through remarkable effort on the offensive boards and the lead changed back in favor of Bayern, 21-18 after the first quarter.

Munich went on an 8-0 run to take a 30-21 lead and forced Bamberg coach Oren Amiel to call a timeout (13th). The FCBB defense worked hard and made it much more difficult for the Upper Franconians to get through to score. Weiler-Babb's layup after another nice defensive stop marked the first double-digit lead (33-23/15th). In the course of a three-point festival with a solid scoring rate for both teams, the Munich team maintained the ten-point lead (39-29/17th). Weiler-Babb asserted his individual class to make it 43-31 (19th). Coach Trinchieri distributed the playing time to a ten-man rotation and his team led 44-33 after 20 minutes.

Munich controls the action

The quality of the play on the floor was rather mixed after the change of ends, but at least the Munich team maintained its clear lead (48-35/23rd). The outstanding quality of Nick Weiler-Babb helped another bucket and a retained lead for Bayern 50-39 25th), Bamberg had already reached the team foul limit at this early stage. Bamberg set out to grab the momentum but then fouled Walden on a three-pointer, who sank all three free throws(55-43/27th). The Bayern's impeccable shooting from the line was remarkable - Hunter also nailed their free throws and put number 16 and 17 safely in the Bamberg basket (59-45/28th). Hunter continued to dominate the action under the baskets with his physicality - six points in a row testify to that. The icing on the cake of the third quarter was provided by Winston, who hit the floater at the siren for a 65-49 lead.

Captain Lucic picks up speed

Walden's three-pointer opened Munich's 7-0 run, which was tantamount to an early decision as the lead had grown to over 20 points (72-51/32nd). The Bavarians let the ball move confidently through their ranks and Lucic picked up more and more speed on his way to top form (74-55/34th). A few mistakes by the Munich team no longer carried much weight, because the defense stood strong and did not allow any more tension to arise (79-63/37th). The FCBB managed the lead very confidently and could easily afford not to score for several minutes. Even George and Kalu, who had not yet been used earlier were given playing time. Two ice-cold three-pointers by Corey Walden put the lid on it (85-65/39th) and the Bavarians moved into the quarterfinals of the Cup with confidence.

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