By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
ALBA started the game by leading 27-21 after the first quarter and nobody expected what followed. In the next ten minutes of action, thanks to a partial 31-9 score, Bayern Munich got a solid lead and kept it until the final 90-72.
“It’s always good to win on the road in the EuroLeague, it’s sweet and it’s even sweeter that we made it against our arch-rival”, said Bayern coach Andrea Trinchieri. “However this is going to be a long saga and there will be many games”.
With Nick Weiler-Babb leading the charge and scoring 10 out of his 15 points in the second period, Bayern turned the game upside down. The guests went to the locker rooms with a 52-36 halftime advantage and ALBA couldn’t close the gap.
On the contrary, Bayern led even by 24 points (88-64) with three minutes left before the final buzzer and the game was over. Vladimir Lucic and Wade Baldwin added 14 points each for the winners and Jalen Reynolds added 12.
“We entered the game a little bit nervous, and as soon as we picked up and started to be more aggressive, we started playing well”, said Lucic. “We bounced back after the tough loss against Milan and we’re on a good roll now. Take away the three-pointer at the end of the first half and the six points in the second quarter are the type of game we want to play. It’s a new team, a new coach and we have to trust the process and keep going.”
Marcus Eriksson with 15 points and Jayson Granger with 10 scored in double digits for ALBA, however, the defense of the hosts was the big issue with Bayern finishing the game with 68,4% in two-pointers.
“We played a very solid game in defense and rebounds after a sloppy first quarter”, admitted coach Andrea Trinchieri who wants to keep his team alert: “The day we feel we are good, we are dead”.
“We must live always in the present, we are happy with last year but we must understand the difficulties that we will also have this year”, added ALBA coach Aito Garcia Reneses. “The past is the past, we must be thinking of the present”.