Baskonia downs Bayern to end road woes

KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz stayed alive in the race for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs by downing FC Bayern Munich 71-80 to end its road losing streak. Michael Eric scored 16 points and Zoran Dragic netted 13 points to lead Baskonia, which improved its record to 11-16 and stayed close in the fight for eighth place. Tornike Shengelia added 11 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in the win. Bayern saw Greg Monroe tally 18 points and 6 rebounds but it was not enough as the German champs dropped to 8-19. Maodo Lo scored 16 points, Paul Zipser had 11 points and T.J. Bray and Danilo Barthel both added 10 points in the defeat.

Shengelia started the game with a three-pointer for the visitors, who were up 0-7 as Bayern committed 4 turnovers in the first five possessions. Bray finally got Munich on the board with a three-pointer and Barthel’s triple gave Bayern its first lead at 10-9. Neither team could manage to pull away with six lead changes and four ties with Lo hitting 2 threes and Paul Zipser also connecting from long range for Bayern while Ilimane Diop had a three-point play and Achille Polonara drained a triple for Baskonia, which trailed 25-21 after 10 minutes. Lo started the second quarter with a three-pointer and Bray made it 30-23. But Bayern was held scoreless for nearly 3 minutes and Semaj Christon evened things at 30-30 with foul shots. Bayern stopped the rut with drives to the basket for a 34-30 lead only to see Dragic score 7 points to put Baskonia back ahead 36-37. Zipser answered with a three-point play, but Bayern went nearly 3 minutes without a point and Baskonia surged in front 39-44 and led 41-44 at the break.

Baskonia remained ahead 43-48, but the visitors failed to score for nearly 3 minutes. Bray knocked down a three and Monroe had 4 points as Bayern pulled back ahead 50-48. Baskonia took advantage of some Bayern turnovers and grabbed a 54-60 lead after 30 minutes. The Baskonia run continued with Pierria Henry starting the final frame with a layup. Lo hit a three at the other end only to see Dragic punch back from long range and Matt Janning follow with a triple of his own for a 57-68 advantage. Another Henry layup pushed the cushion to 60-72 with less than 6 minutes to play. After Shengelia made it 62-74, Bayern put together a 9-2 run, but the home side just could not produce enough offense to threaten Baskonia, which got 2 free throws from Henry for a 71-78 lead with 15 seconds remaining.

Finally another road win

Baskonia has not been a road warrior this season with the victory snapping a six-game road losing streak. The last win away from its Fernando Buesa Arena came against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade on December 12. Baskonia improved to 3-11 on the road.

Home worries continue

Bayern started the season 5-2 at home, but has since lost six of its seven games at Audi Dome. Bayern missed a chance to pick up back-to-back wins for the first time since Rounds 13 and 14 and Oliver Kostic’s team is just 2-11 in the last 13 contests.

Telling numbers

Bayern committed 18 turnovers at home and could not stop the Baskonia inside attack as the visitors shot 61.0 percent on two-pointers. The visitors also grabbed some easy points with a 16-8 advantage in fastbreak points.

Next games

Bayern will take on another Spanish team later this week as it travels to FC Barcelona on Friday, March 6. Baskonia will face another German side in its return to northern Spain as it welcomes ALBA Berlin on the same evening.