Williams, Lo lead Bayern to first road win
FC Bayern Munich registered its first road win of the EuroLeague season by topping Herbalife Gran Canaria 74-89 on Thursday. Bayern improved to 4-5 in the standings, while Gran Canaria dropped to 2-7. Maodo Lo led the winners with 22 points, Derrick Williams added 20, Petteri Koponen and Vladimir Lucic each had 11 and Devin Booker posted 10 points and 11 rebounds for Bayern. Marcus Eriksson and Ondrej Balvin led Gran Canaria with 15 points apiece and D.J. Strawberry scored 11 for the hosts.
Lo shined early to give Bayern a 2-6 lead. Anzejs Pasecniks and Nikola Radicevic rescued Gran Canaria and a three-pointer by Strawberry gave the hosts their first lead, 9-8. Williams had all the points in a 0-6 Bayern run, Lo scored in penetration and a three-pointer by Koponen pushed Bayern ahead 15-19. A jumper by Nemanja Dangubic and a put-back slam by Balvin fixed the score at 17-21 after 10 minutes. Xavi Rabaseda dunked off a steal early in the second quarter and Balvin added an alley-oop slam, but an outstanding Koponen restored a 23-28 Bayern margin. Williams struck twice from downtown to make it a double-digit game, 25-36. Pasecniks and Kim Tillie rescued Gran Canaria and a deep triple by Oriol Pauli brought his team within 38-44. A tip-in by Balvin got the hosts even closer, 42-46, at halftime. Back-to-back layups by Radicevic and a dunk by Balvin drew Gran Canaria within 50-51 soon after the break. Williams dunked and back-to-back layups by Lo gave Bayern fresh air at 52-57. Strawberry and Eriksson each hit a triple in a 10-0 run that put Gran Canaria in charge, 62-59. A tip-in by Booker got Bayern within 62-61 through three quarters. Koponen found Booker for an alley-oop dunk and added a jumper for a 62-65 Bayern lead early in the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Eriksson got Gran Canaria within 70-71, but Lo and Lucic answered from downtown, which caused the hosts to call timeout at 70-77. Lucic insisted from downtown and Nihad Djedovic added another one that capped a 0-16 run that sealed the outcome, 70-87. Gran Canaria kept trying, but Bayern had cruised to a well-deserved win.
Pivotal performer
Williams scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half, allowing Bayern to lead for the best part of the game. He finished the game with 3 rebounds, 3 fouls drawn and a PIR of 17 in just 22 minutes.
Game-changing moment
A three-pointer by Eriksson brought Gran Canaria within 70-71. Lo answered from downtown and Lucic added back-to-back triples in a 0-16 run in which both players combined for 11 points. Gran Canaria never recovered after that.
Stellar stat
Better shooting percentages made the difference in this game. Bayern hit 24 of 38 two-point shots (63.2% 2FG, Gran Canaria 53.1%) and shot 11 of 23 from beyond the arc (47.8%; Gran Canaria 23.8%).
Did you notice?
Lo set a new career-high with 22 points on near-perfect shooting (7 of 7 two-point shots, 2 of 3 from downtown and 2 of 2 free throws). He added 5 assists, 2 steals and 4 fouls drawn for a PIR of 28, also a new career-high.
Next game:
Both teams return to EuroLeague action on Thursday, November 29 - Gran Canaria visits Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul and Bayern travels to Israel to play against Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv.
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Euroleague.net