By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Although the game was fairly close score-wise, Bayern Munich simply performed better than Anadolu Efes on all fronts and with a late run secured an 83-71 home win.
With the score of 66-64 in Bayern’s favor at the start of the fourth quarter, Ognjen Jaramaz erupted for a driving dunk which sparked an 11-3 run for the Germans who held on and secured the win.
Deshaun Thomas scored a few crucial baskets during the game-winning run, finishing with 18 points, five boards, and three assists. Vladimir Lucic was, however, the engine behind Bayern’s effort with 18 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and a total PIR of 28.
“It’s a huge win. Playing against the EuroLeague champions is always a big challenge for us. They are a great team. We try to enjoy games like these. We had a pretty good game – one of the smartest on offense but also on defense. We did exactly what we wanted and deserved this win. So, I am happy,” Lucic said.
Augustine Rubit also scored 18 while Jaramaz had nine points at the end and Othello Hunter ten points.
Bayern put on a complete team effort on both sides of the floor with great hustle, outplaying Anadolu Efes which just couldn’t find a solution, as well as enough energy, especially with the reigning MVP Vasilije Micic seemingly not being able to get it going.
Shane Larkin and Rodrigue Beaubois scored 18 each for Efes while Bryant Dunston had 13 and Micic 12 points.
After 14 Rounds in Euroleague, Bayern improved to 7-7 followed right behind by Efes and Crvena Zvezda with 6-8 records. Zvezda got a win over Olympiacos which will be Bayern’s next opponent.
A lucky coach
Coach Andrea Trinchieri had nothing but praise for his players.
“It’s really a great win for us. We beat Efes, the European champion, a lot of talented players. You saw, we were connected on defense and they still scored some tough shots. Beaubois was amazing. But we were able to produce a great team effort. This is a great win. And our fourth quarter was something I rarely see. I know many coaches with good ideas, but I am very lucky because I have ideas that can help my team, but the thing is my players are buying in,” he said and added a bit of retrospective for the season so far.
“We decided to play the fourth quarter without a true point guard for defensive reasons and we didn’t struggle on offense. Usually when we do these kinds of things, somewhere else you are missing something. And we were very good. So I am very happy. I want to congratulate my players for a great win. It looks like a century ago when we were 0-4 with players out with COVID and injuries. And it looked like a very, very high mountain to climb to get out of there. We haven’t done anything yet though. We have only won seven games. But the feeling is the team is through all the adversity finding some balls.”