By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
AS Monaco entered the EuroLeague duel against Bayern Munich with guns blazing and eventually logged a convincing 94-71 home win. The French team improved to 5-4 compared to Bayern’s 3-6 record.
Mike James led the winning side with 18 points and four more players scored in double-digits for Monaco. Danilo Andjusic had 16, as did Dwayne Bacon, while Leo Westermann and Will Thomas scored 13 points each.
Bacon took recent performance as proof that the team has what it takes to compete in the playoffs.
“We definitely have the team to go to the playoffs. We just have to come out and keep stacking wins like this one – whether it’s home or away. Keep coming out and practicing well and just keep building. There’s gonna be a lot of ups and downs during the season. But we have the team, we have the players that can compete for a playoffs spot and I think for a championship as well.”
For Bayern, Vladimir Lucic had 15 and Othello Hunter 14 points. Augustin Rubit and Deshaun Thomas added ten each.
It was a high-scoring affair in the first half as both teams were quite successful offensively but Monaco was just better and it secured them a 55-43 lead at the break.
Although the tempo slowed down, Monaco was still finding the net with great versatility as a number of players were sizzling and Bayern just couldn’t find a way to stop them and recover.
Coach Zvezdan Mitrovic had nothing to complain about and praised the players for their energy and plan execution.
“It was very important for us, especially because we have this double-round trip next week with Tel Aviv and Istanbul. For us, it was a very, very important game. We played a really great offensive first half. In the second half we were more focused on our defense. I’m really happy with how my team played tonight. We really respect Bayern. We had two days to practice and prepare and we really showed the results on the court. How we played and the motivation of my players and the energy and everything, it was great.”