By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In his best game with the Bayern Munich jersey, Serge Ibaka posted game-highs 24 points and 13 rebounds as his team defeated Virtus Bologna 90 – 76 behind a dynamic fourth-quarter performance.
With the score 72 – 71, Bayern made a devastating 16 – 2 run through five minutes to go up 88 – 73 with 3:33 to play and turn what was previously a quite close battle during the second half into a comfortable win. Virtus was actually leading by 14 points, 23 – 37, halfway through the second period until Bayern made a 10 – 0 run to tie the score at 46 early in the third quarter.
“As a team, we did a great job,” Ibaka said. His team climbed to 5-6. “We started a little slow in the beginning but we kept trusting each other to play the right way. In the second half, we tried to bring the intensity in our defense and that’s why we got the win.”
Sylvain Francisco provided Bayern with 13 points plus five assists. Carsen Edwards contributed 12 points, five assists and four steals while Devin Booker had 12 points plus six rebounds.
A reaction that shows a lot
“This wins meant a lot,” Bayern coach Pablo Laso said. “Mentally, first of all, because we’re ready to compete and we have to show it from the beginning. Our first quarter wasn’t good… and then we talked at halftime and our second half was much better and we got a home victory against a great team.”
“It speaks about the team performance,” Laso added on Bayern having five players in double figures. “We move the ball well, we find the open man, we create open shots and we have patience on offense and defense.”
Marco Belinelli produced 22 points for Virtus while Toko Shengelia finished with 15 points and five rebounds. The Italian side is now 7-4.
“It’s a bad loss,” Virtus coach Luca Banchi said. “We started missing our direction of the game from the end of the second period. It was a tight game for almost three periods but unfortunately during the last 10 minutes they touched the paint with great continuity. They controlled the rebound and the quality of our basketball wasn’t the same as in the first 15 minutes.”
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball