By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In a potentially decisive battle in the race for the playoffs, Bayern Munich beat Olimpia Milano 93 – 87 to make the 2-0 vs. the Italian team in the regular season and improve its record to 9 – 9.
Milano, that is still without Nemanja Nedovic, suffered its second loss in a row and dropped to 8 – 10 and at the ninth place in the standings.
Bayern was in control for the majority of the game after falling behind 10 – 16 in the first quarter. The Bavarian squad built a double-digit lead in the second half by shooting excellent from beyond the arc (12/18) and having many players contributing. Milano made a comeback to reduce a 15-point deficit, 67 – 52 to a four 81 – 77 but two buckets by Derrick Williams plus a 3-pointer by Maodo Lo made it 89 – 79 with 90 seconds left to play.
“In the second half, we controlled the situation except for the last couple minutes. We made some mistakes defensively, but it’s not easy to play defense against James. But we deserve to win for sure tonight. Until now we have nine wins in the EuroLeague and I am very, very happy,” Bayern Munich head coach Dejan Radonjic said.
The visiting squad didn’t give up and Mike James hit 2/2 from the line for the 89 – 85 with 36 seconds left to play. Munich players were cool from the line though, to remain at a two-possession distance.
“My players one more time showed me the right mentality because they did not give up until the end, not even in the moments when we were really tired and didn’t have the right rotations to compete. But we got close one more time,” Olimpia Milano head coach Simone Pianigiani commented.
Apart from hitting the crucial triple down the stretch and finishing with 18 points, Lo dished out a team-high five assists. Nihad Djedovic added 18 points plus a pair of free throws when Milano made it a four-point game in the last minute.
James led Milano with a game-high 29 points plus five assists while Arturas Gudaitis had 18 points and 10 rebounds. They didn’t receive much help from their teammates except the 11 points by Dairis Bertans.
Petteri Koponen (14 points) and Stefan Jovic (14 points in 15 minutes) also had key performances for Bayern.
Photo: EuroLeague