Our lions wanted to show a reaction to their last weak performance at ratiopharm ulm in today’s encounter with the big favorites and third in the table FC Bayern Munich – and they succeeded in an unbelievable way! Head coach Pete Strobl’s team showed a concentrated and strong performance in the Euroleague playoff team and won the game in the Munich Audi Dome with 83:85 (38:37) despite 17 ball losses after an exciting final phase. Our lions, who had already been ten points ahead, convinced with good offensive decisions and field hit rates of 57 percent from the two-man and 47 percent from the three-man area, an attentive defense and strong rebound work – especially on the offensive board. “We had the game under control, but they just got twelve offensive rebounds. That’s the reason why we lost the game, ”said Munich coach Adriano Vertemati, who replaced the suspended head coach Andrea Trinchieri. And it was also an offensive rebound that paved the way to victory 25 seconds before the end, when Benedikt Turudic rejected a free throw at 83:82 for Munich and Martin Peterka typed in a decisive 83:84 after an offensive rebound. Peterka had 16 points and scored double digits, as did Turudic (13), Arnas Velička (18) and top scorer Karim Jallow (24). Leon Radosevic was most successful for Bayern with 23 points.
Our lions will continue on Tuesday, who will then receive championship leaders MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg in the Volkswagen Hall.
The game got off to a good start. Defensively, the lions were awake, made the favorites difficult to throw and offensive, they made good decisions. So it was well deserved that the Strobl team, led by Martin Peterka and Karim Jallow, was 7:16 ahead after five minutes and forced Bayern to take a time-out. After that, the lions were even able to increase their lead to nine points before the hosts attacked defensively. The young and wild ones did not come to successful degrees for several minutes – also because the ball losses increased.
Nevertheless, Jallow & Co. took a narrow 16:18 lead into the second ten minutes, but conceded a 9-0 run in Munich across quarters. Gavin Schilling stopped this run (20:18) and then the Strobl team recovered. She moved the ball well, stayed vigilant in defense and, thanks to good hit rates from the two-point range, pulled herself back a little to 23:29 (14th min.). However, the Lions had increasing problems to stop Munich center Leon Radosevic. He was single-handedly responsible for ensuring that the favorite took the lead. There were a total of ten Bayern points in a row to make it 33:29 – but they didn’t throw our lions off the track. Instead, they rallied again and only went into the half-time break with a 38:37 deficit.
Our lions came back to the field with a lot of energy, which was shown, among other things, in very strong work on the offensive board. In the first three minutes of the third quarter they grabbed five offensive rebounds and used their second chances to take a 40:49 lead. The only downer: The Strobl team again dropped a few free throws. But his defense made life difficult for Bayern and then Arnas Velička was hot. The Löwen-Guard scored 14 points in this part of the game and kept his team ahead. Shortly before the end of the quarter, the young and wild ones led in double digits for the first time (58:68) and finally went into the last part of the game with an eight point lead.
After our lions led here again with ten points (62:72, 32nd min.) On the points of the good Benedikt Turudic, the Munich team increased their defense intensity. Peterka and colleagues therefore had to work hard for their throws, which, however, found their way to the finish much less often. So the third in the table came up and in the 37th minute had taken the lead back through Vladimir Lucic (81:78). Bayern held this 3-point lead until 28 seconds before the end when Benedikt Turudic hit a lay-up including a foul. He did not sink the following free throw, but the Lions got the offensive rebound again and Martin Peterka typed in for the 83:84 lead. The subsequent Munich attack was unsuccessful and Luc van Slooten finally put the lid on from the free-throw line: With one second remaining, he hit the first and deliberately missed the second. So the time was running out and the win was perfect!
Coach comments on the game:
Pete Strobl (Basketball Lions): “First of all, I have to say: our respect for the FC Bayern Munich team is very, very great. We watch their EuroLeague games very often. We know this team very well because we watch their games three times a week. Congratulations to Bayern for making the playoffs in the EuroLeague, I think that’s great for basketball Germany. We got into the game well and wanted to fight and tried a few tactical things, did a lot of different things on defense as well. Sometimes it worked very well, but we knew that Bayern would find a way to come back in the end. That was about Lucic again, but in the end we stayed cool and we found a way to take the win home with us. “
Adriano Vertemati (FC Bayern Basketball): “It’s easy to explain why we lost the game. You got a lot of offensive rebounds. The statistics say twelve, but I think there were more. Especially at the beginning of the third quarter and at the end of the game. We had the game under control, but they got twelve offensive rebounds. That’s why we lost the game. We knew they were one of the best teams on the offensive, but they played for the last ten minutes without a schilling. If you know this but are unable to do what you need to do on the rebound, it is because of the focus or the energy. We have a big squad, but sometimes the motivation may not be the same when you play EuroLeague on Friday and BBL on Sunday. But we have to understand that we have to deliver in the EuroLeague – which we did – but also in the Bundesliga. We have to find a way and I think we can do it. “
Basketball Löwen Braunschweig: Wank 2, Watkins n.e., Zeeb, van Slooten 1, Robinson 3 (9 Assists), Göttsche n.e., Peterka 16 (5 Rebounds), Roosch n.e., Velička 18, Schilling 8 (5 Rebounds), Jallow 24 (5 Rebounds), Turudic 13 (8 Rebounds).
FC Bayern: George 4, Krämer, Seeley 6 (5 Rebounds, 4 Ball Wins), Lucic 18 (6 Rebounds), Flaccadori 8, Amaize, Zipser 11, Gist 6, Johnson 2, Sisko 5 (7 Assists), Radosevic 23, Grant ne
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