By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
It was not a high-scoring affair, but it was a win and that’s the important thing.
Bayern Munich beat ASVEL (76-67) and remains tied with Panathinaikos and Crvena Zvezda between the fourth and the sixth spot in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings with a 16-10 record.
Andreas Obst with 15 points was the top scorer of the winners, Carsen Edward added 14 points – seven of them from the free throws line – and Vladimir Lucic had 10 and eight assists for the home team which is still missing Devin Booker.
Nick Weiler-Babb, who added seven points and seven rebounds, admitted: “We didn’t have a great first half but in the second we came out to play better defense, have a lot more movement in the offense and that’s what helped us”.
“You could see that both teams were tired, third game in five days, but we fought through”, said Bayern coach Gordon Herbert.
Paris Lee had 14 points, Joffrey Lauvergne scored 12, and Theo Maledon just seven and also five turnovers, with ASVEL dropping to 11-15.
Bayern in control
After a competitive first quarter with Bayern having a five-point advantage (23-18), the Germans with a partial score of 15-4 in the first seven minutes of the second period jumped to a 16-point lead (38-22).
The game wasn’t over yet. ASVEL reacted with eight unanswered points to close the half down by eight (38-30), but Bayern once again changed gears and extended their advantage to 18 points (54-36) after seven minutes in the third period.
There were no surprises after that, with Bayern closing the quarter up by 11 (58-47) and pushing the lead back to 14 (64-48) after a three by Andreas Obst.
ASVEL managed to make it a six-point game (67-61) with three minutes after back-to-back buckets by Lauvergne but couldn’t get any closer with Bayern closing the game the right way.
Photo credit: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague