Bayern downs Galatasaray 99-89 to lead series

FC Bayern Munich gave itself good chances of reaching the Eurocup semifinals by collecting a 99-89 home victory over Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul in Game 1 of the quarterfinals on Tuesday. The second and final game of the series is next week in Istanbul, after which the winner on aggregate score will advance to the semifinals. Deon Thompson picked up 20 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks for the winners, while Dusko Savanovic scored 19. Alex Renfroe added 17 points and 5 assists, John Bryant had 13 points and 9 rebounds, and Bryce Taylor chipped in 10 points for Bayern, which won the rebounding battle 41-31. Galatasaray , which hopes it will not regret allowing Bayern to score final 6 points of the game, got 22 points from Vladimir Micov. Stephane Lasme picked up 18 points, Errick McCollum had 15 and Blake Schilb hit for 13 in defeat.

Micov opened the game for the visitors with a three-ball from the wing with Savanovic going down low for Bayern's first basket. Renfroe hit from downtown for the German club's first lead before 5 points from Bryant increased the advantage to 10-3. McCollum's three-point play stopped the Bayern run but the hosts continued to produce offensively as Maxi Kleber's put-back dunk and bonus free throw supplied an 18-12 lead. Lasme twice cut the gap to 4 points for Galatasaray, but Renfroe nailed his third triple of the game to increase the margin to 27-18. Kleber's 2 free throws put Bayern up by double digits, 29-19, but Sinan Guler trimmed it to 29-22 after 10 minutes. The second quarter started with a Thompson tip-in, then the cushion became 34-22 on Savanovic's wide-open triple. Lasme's tip-in finally got Galatasaray on the board before Micov raced past Bayern's defense to make it 34-26. As both teams sought to run, it went back-and-forth until back-to-back baskets from McCollum brought Galatasaray to within 38-32. Bayern continued to take advantage of offensive rebounds with a tip-in from Bryant, but Lasme came up with a monster block of Savanovic and a big dunk to make it 40-36. Savanovic and Bryce Taylor answered from long distance as Bayern went up big again, 48-36. But an unsportsmanlike foul on Paul Zipser saw Caleb Green hit 2 free throws and Schilb drain a trey as Galatasaray got back within 48-41. Schilb followed with another three-pointer but Bayern still led 50-44 at intermission.

Thompson's basket opened the second half with McCollum's free throws and Lasme's jumper getting the deficit down to 52-48. Bayern answered with a 9-1 run with Renfroe's fourth triple making it 61-49. After Galatasaray went without a basket for more than 3 minutes, Micov nailed 3 three-pointers and McCollum also hit from long range, too, for a 12-0, two-minute spurt that suddenly knotted the score at 61-61. Free throws by Justin Cobbs stopped Galatasaray's run, Zipser followed with a big three-pointer and Bryant scored as many the hard way to push Bayern's advantage back to 70-63. Guler hit 2 layups to keep Galatasaray close before Cobbs's jumper before the buzzer had Bayern up 74-67 after 30 minutes. Micov opened the scoring in the fourth quarter before Thompson finally got Bayern on the board with a thunderous dunk for a 76-69 cushion with 8 minutes left. Schilb answered for Galatasaray with a three-pointer and a break-away dunk to make it 76-74. The gap was 78-77 after Green's corner trey but Savanovic came back down at the other end for a three-pointer and Taylor's jumper went in to push the gap to 83-77. However, the Bayern advantage was soon back to double-digits, 91-81, on a three-ball from Taylor and three-point play from Bryant. Chuck Davis scored 4 straight points for the visitors and Schilb 2 free throws to cut the gap to 93-89 with 1:19 to play. Thompson finished strong for the hosts with 2 free throws, a blocked shot of McCollum and a tip-in for a 99-89 finish as Bayern reserved 10 points to work with in next week's rematch.