By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
When the final score is 100-82, it’s easy to understand that the shots were falling, and that was the case for Bayern Munich over Meridianbet Crvena Zvezda.
The homeside made 19 threes out of 37 attempts, and with this number, you simply can’t be denied.
Carsen Edwards, with 30 points and 6/10 threes, was the star of the show; however, Vladimir Lucic, with 18 points and 3/4 threes, and Shabazz Napier, with 16 points and 5/8 threes, also contributed greatly.
“They are still a great team. We understood that they would be in the fight until the end. They have guys who can score and defend well. We had to be at our best, but we’re glad to get the win,” Carsen Edwards said.
The guests got 15 points from Isaiah Canaan but couldn’t match the shooting numbers of the home side, despite having 38% efficiency in threes (13/34) and 50% in two-pointers (17/34). Those are good numbers for a road team, still, Bayern was much better.
As a result, the Germans got a 17-11 record and a tie in the fourth spot of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings with Monaco, while Zvezda dropped to 16-12 and a tie with Paris Baskeball at the sixth spot.
“They are definitely a very strong opponent—talented, experienced, and in a great position, like us, to fight for the playoffs and play-ins. We were a bit nervous at the start of the game but found a way to play, despite missing three guys in the rotation. It was a big and important win tonight. The team’s mentality is to secure a playoff spot, and to achieve that, we need to fight and stay united,” Vladimir Lucic added.
Shooting the ligh outs
Crvena Zvezda opened the game leading 22-20 after the first period, but the hosts turned the tables and scored 32 points in the second quarter.
The halftime score was 52-37 for Bayern, thanks to a buzzer-beating three by Edwards, who had 14 points in 16 minutes of action and completed a 13-0 run in the last three minutes of the first half, creating for the first time real distance in the game.
With the first three four baskets of the third period, three threes by Vladimir Lucic, Napier, and Edwards, plus a goal-foul by Johannes Voigtmann, Bayern pushed their lead to 27 points (64-37), and there was no coming back for Zvezda.
“Great team effort. After the Paris game, we regrouped in Chemnitz, spending three or four days there. We made some strides in the Chemnitz game and carried that progress into today’s performance. The second and third quarters were outstanding, and I give our players a lot of credit. I really liked our competitive level, our togetherness, and the strides we made on the defensive end,” Bayern’s head coach Gordon Herbert said at the postgame press conference.