By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Still undefeated against the Germany rival in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, FC Bayern Munich let go of an early 14-point lead but eventually held on to beat ALBA Berlin, 79-77, Thursday evening.
Augustine Rubit and Andreas Obst shared a team-high 14 points in the Regular Season Round 7 contest. Recovering from a hamstring injury costing him a couple of EuroLeague games, Othello Hunter provided a boost by punching in eight of his ten points after the break.
“Beating a rival team for our fans and ourselves. This is very important to start a run in the season,” was Rubit’s first reaction, immediately after the tight affair.
Riding on a 13-0 run, the team coached by Israel Gonzalez went up, 54-49, midway through the third period. Bayern immediately responded with 11 unanswered points, regained the lead, and ultimately secured the win as Jaleen Smith missed the chance to force overtime at the conclusion of the fourth quarter.
“A typical German derby. It was a grind,” noted Eastern Kentucky product Corey Walden after his 12 points and six assists in Berlin, “We did a good job withstanding their run. In the end, they got hot. But we made stops to get the win.”
In his debut for the team located in Munich on the opposite end of the rivalry following the long stint on the Berlin side, Niels Giffey tucked in an early three-pointer and grabbed four rebounds.
Besides the sixth win in as many meetings between the two German clubs in EuroLeague, the team guided by Andrea Trinchieri jumped to 2-5, after starting the 2022-23 season with five consecutive losses.
“After a rough start, it was very important to win two wins, one home game against Efes at and one here in Berlin,” said the Italian boss, “I believe we deserved to win because we did things to let us control the game. We had, let’s say, a thriller ending because we did not make open shots, but we took great shots.”
Released to the Serbia senior national team and preparing for the next batch of 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, Ognjen Jaramaz was out. Paul Zipser (thigh) was also sidelined along with Zan Mark Sisko (personal) and Jason George.
Fourth win in a row across all competitions, including upping the domestic record to 5-1. Next up is Olympiacos at home Thursday.
For ALBA, both Smith and Malte Delow reset EuroLeague personal bests to 20 and 13 points, respectively. Experienced power forward Luke Sikma stuffing the stat sheet resulted in 12 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds for a game-high PIR of 27.
“We steadily became better during the game playing more at the limit,” described Gonzalez, “It was a pitty in the end that we did not score the last shot.”
Prior to the tipoff, the Berlin outfit put sharpshooter Louis Olinde on the injury list. The 24-year-old forward will be sidelined for several weeks with a thump injury. Marcus Eriksson (foot), Maodo Lo (ankle), and Jonas Mattisseck (hand) remained unavailable.
Falling to 3-4 with a four straight loss over and also the first loss in Mercedes-Benz Arena, the champions of the last three editions of the easyCredit BBL will visit Real Madrid next Thursday.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net