Bayern loses a close one 66-63 in the witch's cauldron of PalaDozza

The chance for the first win in the young EuroLeague season was there to be had but in the end Bologna celebrated a win. The Bayern basketball team lost 66-63 on the second gameday in front of almost 5,000 fans at EuroCup winner Virtus, despite a great fighting spirit. The Munich team had poor shooting numbers and even the last three-pointer for overtime refused to drop.

Without the injured Bonga, Harris and also Sisko (thumb), captain Lucic (15 points) and Weiler-Babb (16) were top scorers for the team of head coach Trinchieri. 

Starting Friday, Bayern will prepare for the Cup Round of 16 on Sunday (18:00/MagentaSport) in Bamberg. Just two days later, the EuroLeague Double Week begins at the Audi Dome: Tuesday against FC Barcelona, Thursday against Olimpia Milan (20:30. each).

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In the fascinating atmosphere of the PalaDozza, Bayern struggled to keep control after an early lead (7-6/4th), and Bologna went ahead 30-22 (15th). However, the Munich team made up for their two-point shooting quota of only 18 percent (24 in the end) with a lot of effort and eight steals before the break. After halftime, the score was 41-37 (24th) and it was the guest's turn to take over. However, missed opportunities led to a 16-0 Virtus run within five minutes to go up 64-51 (33rd).  A 12-2 comeback was not quite enough.

Points per quarter Bayern - Bologna: 16-24, 16-10, 19-22, 12-10

Stats: Two-point shooting: 24% (FCBB) // 50% (Bologna); Three-point shooting: 39% // 38%; Free-throw shooting: 81% // 63%; Rebounds: 32//38; Assists: 11//14; Turnovers: 13//19

Quotes:       

Andrea Trinchieri: "Congratulations to Virtus. I think it was an extremely physical game and although we didn't have a good night on offense, we battled and were very solid on defense. We got off to a slow start, but played with character on defense and improved a lot from the last game. We just had those four or five very bad minutes around the last quarter break. That's when we lost confidence and made mistakes on defense. So we were down by 13, but we came back and had an open shot to equalize. I think we took a good step forward as a team and improved. We still need players to step up. But we put ourselves on the list of teams that fight hard today. We should use that to build something on. (...) I think we still have a lot of things we can improve, but we are playing as a team."

Vladimir Lucic: "We lost against an experienced, talented team. The game was very physical and we came back compared to the game against Fenerbahce. We had the last shot to equalize, unfortunately I missed it. We just have to trust the process now and keep improving. We have a very important game in the Cup now on Sunday and we just have to continue playing our way."

Bologna Coach, Sergio Scariolo: "The effort on defense has paid off in the long run. I think we defended well throughout. On offense, we still made some mistakes. (...) We earned a lead, but couldn't hold it in the meantime with a sluggish offense. But in the end, we countered with our defense and did our job against a very good team. It's the first Euroleague win in 15 years for the club."

Bologna Guard, Daniel Hackett: "I have a lot of respect for Bayern. They are an established club and have been playing excellent basketball for many years now. For us, today is an important win, the first in many years. The fans were great and picked us up when Bayern came back into the game."

Game recap:

Trinchieri's choice for the front five was Corey Walden, Nick Weiler-Babb, Vladimir Lucic, Augustine Rubit and Othello Hunter. Bologna's set-up man Daniel Hackett immediately caused worry lines for his former coach. In a physical opening phase, the former Bamberg player put up eight points and helped the Eurocup champions get off to a good start (13-7/5th). On the opposite side, the Bavarians had trouble getting their engine going at the PalaDozza and hardly any easy shot was allowed to them. All the more important were the forced turnovers (seven in the first quarter), which Winston and Weiler-Babb exploited in the fastbreak. But the Munich team also had the ball stolen four times and found themselves eight points behind after the first ten minutes (24-16).

In the second quarter, too, the offense continued to struggle. After Walden missed twice, captain Lucic hit an important three-pointer against the man defense. Again, good defense was the anchor through which the guests gained stability. It took three minutes before Semi Ojeleye produced for the Italians from Downtown (27-22/13th). Both teams were largely successful in disrupting the flow of the opponent's game. Trinchieri tried to crack the defensive bulwark with his three guards Jaramaz, Winston and Weiler-Babb but whatever the two Italians on the sidelines came up with, it had little effect on the floor. After an Obst three-pointer, a low-scoring first half ended with 34-32 for Bologna as Jaramaz's basket for a possible equalizer was not successful.

Bologna's have a 16-0 run and Lucic misses buzzer-beater

At the beginning of the second half, the 16-time Italian champions committed turnovers 13 and 14, which Lucic took advantage of and gave them their first lead of the game (35-34/22nd). Lundberg delivered nine quick points to put Virtus back in front (46-41/26th) but the guests were now in the game. Gillespie, Jaramaz and Walden confidently hit their shots and the game remained contested. Only in the last 60 seconds of the third quarter did the home side gain a small advantage with a dunk and a fastbreak (56-51).

Bologna came out of the quarter break with a lot of momentum and Trinchieri took a timeout after only 50 seconds (60-51) following a putback dunk. However, this did not stop Bologna's run. The experienced Milos Teodosic put the offense in order. A three-pointer by Lucic finally stopped a 16-0 run and with only six minutes left on the clock, Bayern faced a double-digit deficit (64-54). But Trinchieri's team did not give in yet as Jaramaz shortened the gap with a three-point play after a strong defensive sequence, and Weiler-Babb followed suit a short time later (66-63/39th). Trailing by three points, Bayern got the ball again seven seconds before the siren and found Lucic in the corner - the Serbian narrowly missed the shot that would have pushed for overtime.

Photos: Sgamellotti, FCBB & Stickel