Lucic leads FC Bayern Munich past UCAM

FC Bayern Munich hit 13 triples and led from start to finish en route to an easier-than-it-seems 92-84 win over newcomer UCAM Murcia in its Audi Dome on Wednesday night. Both teams hold 1-1 records in a tie for third place in Group C. Bayern used a strong start behind Vladimir Lucic and Danilo Barthel, hit its first 6 three-point attempts in the game and kept running away with a big lead. The hosts scored 32 points in the first, and 30 points in the second quarter, and held a huge 62-35 lead at halftime. Bayern cruised in the second half, and the margin stood at 22 points with four minutes to go, before Murcia cut the deficit with a big run late in the fourth quarter. Lucic finished with 19 points on 4-for-4 from long range. Max Kleber had 12 points, Devin Booker scored 11, while Reggie Redding collected 8 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds in victory. For Murcia, Facundo Campazzo had a double-double of 20 points and 12 assists. Jose Angel Antelo netted 18, Ovie Soko had 15, while Sadiel Rojas collected 11 points plus 7 rebounds.

Bayern needed less than five minutes to open a double-digit margin, as a triple from Redding made it 15-3. The hosts made all their shot attempts in the first six minutes – 6 two-pointers, 2 triples, and 3 free throws – and led 21-6. Rojas with one, and Antelo with a pair of three-pointers briefly stopped the bleeding for the visitors, but the hosts still upped the margin to 32-16 after 10 minutes. The lead kept increasing in the second quarter, as the hosts made 12 of their 16 three-point attempt in the first two quarters. Lucic was 3-for-3 from long range before halftime, and Alex King, Kleber and Redding each hit a pair of threes in the first two quarters as Bayern held a 29-point margin in the final minutes of the second, before going into the break up 62-35. The scoring significantly slowed down in the third quarter, with Murcia holding the hosts to only 13 points during those 10 minutes. However, the visitors did not cut the deficit below 20 points until seven minutes before the final buzzer, 79-62. In the closing minutes, with the game out of hand, Murcia cut the deficit a lot more with a 0-17 run, getting it within 89-84 in the final minute, but Bayern’s win was never in danger.