By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Guerschon Yabusele took matters into his own hands in the tough battle between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and handed the Spanish team an 80-76 road win.
Real Madrid improved to a 6-2 record while Bayern trails behind with 3-5 in the EuroLeague standings.
The hosts had a 73-69 lead at the three-minute mark but Yabusele banked in a timely three-pointer which sparked a run by Real to tie the game at 76. With 26 seconds remaining, after both teams missed some opportunities, Yabusele drew a foul under the basket, scored both free throws and pushed Madrid to win.
He finished with game-high 21 points on 8-10 shooting including 3-4 from deep while Sergio Llull scored ten points (and set the final score with two free throws).
Yasbusele was happy with the win and gave props to his teammates. “It was a really tough game, a really tough win. We are really happy we got this game. We need to move on, go back home, learn and get better. Today my teammates did a great job of finding me on the court. Today it was me, tomorrow is going to be somebody else. We are just happy that we had teamwork today.”
Edy Tavares, who exited the game with five personal fouls (as did Vincent Poirier), logged seven points and nine rebounds. For Bayern, Augustine Rubit scored 20 followed by Darrun Hilliard with 16.
“I think first half was pretty good, we controlled almost every situation. Second half, I think we had some stupid turnovers. They are a very good team, they play solid, and they came back. And when it looked the worst, we stepped up,” coach Pablo Laso said and added.
“We ran out of big guys, but we controlled the last possession and played good defense at the end. I am happy for the victory. I think it was important because we had foul trouble with our bigs. Tristan Vukcevic did a great job helping us there. We finished playing with Guerschon and four outside guys. Somehow, we knew that we could suffer a little bit on rebounds, but we played a pretty good defense. We were aggressive and we got some steals. And then we executed better on offense and finally got a victory.”