The basketball players of FC Bayern have won the top game of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) and thus also the second comparison at Alba Berlin. After the clear 82:69 in the Euroleague duel at the end of October, the Munich team retained the upper hand on Sunday evening with 80:73 points and remain leaders with 18: 4 points. The Berliners fall back one place to fifth in a field of six teams (12: 6) with the same number of points.
In this duel between the two German Euroleague representatives it was clear that both opponents would spare players or would have to replace them. On the Berlin side, it was Luke Sikma, of all people, who suffered a neck injury in the 67:82 defeat at Panathinaikos Athens on Friday – so the hosts lacked their best player. Bayern coach Andrea Trinchieri gave Corey Walden and Deshaun Thomas a break, the Italian foregoing two of his key players, also because at least six German players have to play in the BBL.
But it was again one of the foreign Bayern professionals who immediately put his stamp on the game: Ognjen Jaramaz. The Serb had shown a strong performance in the famous 83:71 win against Euroleague champion Efes Istanbul in the final quarter on Thursday. The 26-year-old guard did not want to take that long in the Mercedes-Benz Arena, which was admitted to 2500 spectators in view of the hygiene measures in force. Jaramaz was immediately there, pulled the strings in the build-up of the game and scored the first seven points for the guests single-handedly.
Evening of the playmaker: Nick-Weiler Babb was the outstanding player at Bayern, Maodo Lo at Berlin
What Berlin wasn’t impressed by, Alba played physically and was ahead 22:16 after the first quarter. But Bayern have a lot of quality in their squad; Led by the tirelessly fighting Vladimir Lucic, who scored 17 points and was always on the spot in the important phases, the guests regained a narrow 41:38 lead at the break. Both teams had the hardships of the Euroleague in their bodies, the Berliners had only returned from Athens on Saturday evening, the Bavarians had left a lot of strength in their win against Istanbul.
So it was clear that after the break, the will would also play a major role. And that was bigger with the guests, especially Nick Weiler-Babb, who celebrated his 26th birthday, was in great shape. Otherwise actually responsible for tricky defensive tasks, the vicious guard could not be held on the offensive, scored almost flawlessly and advanced to the match winner with 18 points. Lucic, Jaramaz (13 points) and Augustine Rubit (11 points) were the best shooters, thanks to a strong defense, the guests earned the victory over time.
Alba playmaker Maodo Lo, who could hardly be stopped by Bayern and who was Berlin’s top scorer with 17 points, saw the decisive difference in the individual class: “They made a lot of quality and made difficult throws in the final phase.” In addition to Lo, national player Johannes Thiemann scored double-digit (11) for the champions, who received at least two opportunities to take revenge in this demanding season.