Bayern rules the road again, stopping Strasbourg 69-82

FC Bayern Munich took a big step towards the Top 16 by beating Strasbourg 69-82 on Friday for its second consecutive road win. In a crucial battle of teams on the brink of the next round, John Bryant scored 17 points to pace Bayern, which improved to 4-4 in Group A, tied for second place with Khimki Moscow Region and Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade. Deon Thompson added 14 points and 8 rebounds for the winners while K.C. Rivers and Nihad Djedovic both scored 10. Alex Renfroe added 8 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists and Dusko Savanovic chipped in 7 points and 10 rebounds. Strasbourg's redord dropped to 3-5 despite 11 points from Jeremy Leloup while Matt Howard and Vladimir Golubovic both had 10. Rodrigue Beaubois went scoreless as he missed all 11 of his shots. It was Strasbourg’s first loss at home in the Euroleague this season.

First quarter: Thompson scores six points in early 0-10 run

Strasbourg coach Vicente Collet made one change to the starting line-up with Louis Campbell instead of Mardy Collins alongside Beaubois, Kyle Weems, Leloup and Golubovic. Bayern coach Svetislav Pesic trusted the same first five of Renfroe, Djedovic, Bryce Taylor, Savanovic and Thompson. Strasbourg got the ball into the paint to start the game with Campbell opening the game and Golubovic making it 4-0. After turning the ball over twice, Bayern's first points came from Djedovic. Taylor knotted the game at 4-4 with a fastbreak dunk that was followed by back-to-back dunks from Thompson. And Thompson's jumper completed an 0-10 run for a 4-10 lead. Weems stopped the Strasbourg drought with a jumper and Campbell's free throws made it 8-12. Bayern then nailed 3 three-pointers from Savanovic, Rivers and Taylor to open an 8-21 advantage. Howard came off the bench to hit a free throw and Paul Lacombe and Bangaly Fofana both added 2 of their own before Howard got a tough shot to fall as Strasbourg scored the final 7 points of the quarter, but Bayern still led 15-21 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Bayern pulls away

Paul Zipser opened Bayern's scoring in the second quarter with 2 free throws and Lacombe scored for Strasbourg make it 17-23. Bayern had another run as Renfroe's driving lay-up and big lefty dunk bookended a 0-9 run, which also included an Anton Gavel three-ball for a 17-32 lead. Weems stopped the surge with a jumper and Fofana completed an alley-opp to trim the deficit to 21-32. Thompson answered with 2 free throws and Djedovic nailed a three-pointer to grow the lead to 21-37. Bryant tallied inside and Djedovic converted a layup after a Strasbourg turnover for a 23-41 lead. Out of a Strasbourg timeout, Golubovic made 2 free throws and then hit a tough layup as the trailer on the break to make it 27-41. Bryant answered, however, with a pair of jumpers to push the lead back to 18 points, 27-45. Then Renfroe nailed a three-pointer just before the buzzer to send Bayern into the break up 29-48.

Third quarter: Bayern keeps Strasbourg at bay

Renfroe started the third quarter with a free throw and Howard gave Strasbourg its first points. A pair of jumpers by Thompson were sandwiched around another Howard basket before Weems finally hit Strasbourg's first three-pointer after nine misses from long range to make it 36-53. Rivers answered with a layup before Bryant converted a pick-and-roll and then nailed a three-pointer for a 36-60 Bayern lead. Golubovic put back a miss and Collins scored to get the deficit down to 20 points for Strasbourg. But Bryant, Djedovic and Zipser all scored baskets to give Bayern a 40-66 advantage after three quarters.

Fourth quarter: Leloup’s big quarter too little, too late

Collins opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer. Bryant answered right back with a trey and Djedovic’s free throw made it 43-70. Strasbourg kept Bayern off the scoreboard for 2:48 minutes, as Leloup scored 4 points and Fofana completed a three-point play that cut the difference to 52-70. Thompson finally snapped Bayern's scoreless streak for a 52-72 score with 5 minutes to play. Strasbourg was clearly more motivated with Leloup nailing a three-pointer and 2 free throws to cut the gap to 60-76. Bayern got 4 points on 2 free throws each from Rivers and Taylor. But Leloup continued to have a big fourth quarter with a basket and a nice assist to Paul Lacomb as the margin was down to 66-80. And Frank Ntilikina’s free throw in the waning seconds got the final deficit down to a more respectable 13 points.