2019-20Regular SeasonRound 1
October 03, 2019 CET: 20:30
Local time: 20:30 AUDI DOME

Bayern holds off Milan in opener

FC Bayern Munich got its season off to a positive start by holding off AX Armani Exchange Milan 78-64 in both teams' season opener on Thursday night. Milan was within 63-60 midway through the fourth quarter, but the hosts stepped it up another notch on defense and led by Nihad Dedovic and Vladimir Lucic pulled away to register their first win. Lucic led Bayern with 18 points while Dedovic finished with 16 points, Maodo Lo netted 12 and Greg Monroe made his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut with 10 rebounds. Luis Scola paced Milan with 17 points and 6 rebounds, Sergio Rodriguez had 14 points and 6 assists and Amedeo Della Valle scored 10 in defeat.

Bayern took control early behind Lucic and Dedovic, who combined for all the points to open a 10-3 lead. Rodriguez came off the bench and got to work right away. He hit a three-pointer and set up a dunk by Aaron White that put Milan up 17-19. The visitors led 22-23 after 10 minutes. Milan opened the second quarter with an alley-oop dunk from Rodriguez to Paul Biligha, before Bayern answered with a 15-0 run. Lucic sparked it with a three-point play and Paul Zipser and Lo added a triple apiece as the hosts surged to 40-27. Milan ended its 7-minute field goal drought through Scola, who scored 7 points before halftime, including a buzzer-beating three to make it 42-34 at the break. Back-to-back triples early in the third quarter from DeMarcus Nelson and Lucic pushed the margin into double figures again, 48-36. Scola and Kaleb Tarczewski halved the deficit, but a pair of baskets from Monroe and a triple from Lo assured Bayern goes into the final quarter with a 61-50 lead. However, Milan stepped it up defensively in the fourth and kept the hosts scoreless for more than 4 minutes during which Rodriguez, Biligha and Della Valle closed the deficit to 61-59. But Bayern never relinquished the lead as a fastbreak layup from Dedovic snapped a 0-9 run before Dedovic and Lucic led another fastbreak basket and Nelson scored a pair of layups to establish a 74-63 lead with less than 90 seconds to go and seal the outcome.

Key runs

Bayern's biggest run came early in the second quarter when it scored 15 points while holding Milan scoreless for 5 minutes to open a 37-25 lead. To close the game out, Bayern needed a strong finish and it came in the form of a 9-1 run with Nihad Dedovic in the main role for a 70-60 margin late in the fourth quarter.

The glue duo

Vladimir Lucic and Nihad Dedovic were all over the place in this one. This pair combined for 34 points and 8 rebounds and also set the defensive tone with aggressive defense and 6 combined steals. Dedovic tied his career-high with 4 steals and also dished 3 assists.

Bayern's defense holds up

It was not the shooting night Milan imagined. The visitors were held to 42.9% on two-pointers and just 18.2% from long range. Bayern allowed 64 points, which is the fewest it has allowed in a EuroLeague home game since October 2015.

Scola returns as a three-point shooter

The legendary Luis Scola wore the Milan uniform in his first EuroLeague game since the 2007 Final Four. At age 39, he logged 28:30 minutes and scored 17 points. The power forward shot 2 for 6 from three-point range, while in his previous 144 appearances in the competition he was 1 for 11 from behind the arc.

Nothing like the last season

This is the second season in a row in which Bayern opened the season at home, but this one was nothing like the Round 1 game last season when Anadolu Efes Istanbul blew past Bayern for a 19-point win. The victory tonight was Bayern's first Round 1 win since beating Zielona Gora in its competition debut in the 2013-14 campaign.

Next up

Next week in Round 2, Bayern travels to Moscow to face reigning EuroLeague champion CSKA on Thursday. A day later Milan plays its home opener against Zalgiris Kaunas.

Vladimir Lucic - FC Bayern Munich - EB19
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: PEREZ, MIGUEL ANGEL; ROCHA, FERNANDO; UDYANSKYY, EDUARD
Attendance: 4270
By Quarter1234
FC Bayern Munich22201917
AX Armani Exchange Milan23111614
End of Quarter1234
FC Bayern Munich22426178
AX Armani Exchange Milan23345064
FC Bayern Munich
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
7 KING, ALEX DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 KOPONEN, PETTERI 11:19 3 0/2 1/2     2 2 2   1   1 2    
10 MONROE, GREG 22:36 6 3/9     1 9 10 4   1   1 3 2 11
11 LUCIC, VLADIMIR 30:29 18 6/7 1/5 3/3 2 3 5   2       1 7 26
12 LO, MAODO 22:54 12 3/4 2/4     2 2 3   3 1   3 2 11
14 DEDOVIC, NIHAD 29:52 16 6/10 0/2 4/4   3 3 3 4 1   1 2 3 19
16 ZIPSER, PAUL 19:08 6 1/3 1/3 1/2 2 2 4           3 3 5
20 NELSON, DEMARCUS 17:06 9 3/5 1/3   1 1 2 2 1 1     2   7
21 FLACCADORI, DIEGO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
22 BARTHEL, DANILO 29:17 4 1/4 0/1 2/2 1 2 3 2 1       1 2 7
26 LESSORT, MATHIAS 3:59 1     1/2   1 1           2 1  
43 RADOSEVIC, LEON 13:20 3 0/3   3/6   5 5     2 1   1 3 3
Team           1 3 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 78 23/47 6/20 14/19 8 33 41 16 8 10 2 3 20 23 92
        48.9% 30% 73.7%
Head coach: RADONJIC, DEJAN
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
AX Armani Exchange Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
00 DELLA VALLE, AMEDEO 17:30 10 1/4 1/3 5/7 2 1 3   1   1   1 5 12
1 MACK, SHELVIN 21:04 6 3/7       4 4 3   4     3 1 3
6 BILIGHA, PAUL 13:16 4 2/5     2 1 3   1 1 1 1 2   2
9 MORASCHINI, RICCARDO 17:23     0/4     5 5 1         3   -1
10 ROLL, MICHAEL 20:50 2 1/3 0/1   1   1     1     2   -3
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 28:39 14 3/8 1/6 5/5   3 3 6 2 1   1 4 5 14
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 18:07 6 3/6   0/2 2 6 8 1   2 1   4 1 6
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA 5:27 1   0/1 1/4                   2 -1
23 BURNS, CHRISTIAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
30 WHITE, AARON 4:15 2 1/1       2 2           1   3
32 BROOKS, JEFF 24:59 2 0/1 0/1 2/2 2 2 4 1   1     1 2 5
40 SCOLA, LUIS 28:30 17 4/7 2/6 3/4 2 4 6 1 2 3     2 4 17
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 64 18/42 4/22 16/24 12 29 41 13 6 13 3 2 23 20 59
        42.9% 18.2% 66.7%
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE

Head Coaches

RADONJIC, DEJAN
FC Bayern Munich
"Great win for us. I am satisfied first of all with our performance. We played a good game. When Rodriguez came on the floor, it worked good for them, and we had problems in the last quarter. But we played good defense last few minutes of the second quarter, got a few easy points. I am also satisfied because last season our first game was totally opposite to the game today."
MESSINA, ETTORE
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"Congratulations to Bayern, its coach and players. Even when we cut the lead a couple of times, we didn’t have an opportunity to win the game. They were more organized, more disciplined. We were too poor offensively for long stretches. We were too much up and down during the game. You can't win a EuroLeague game on the road if you are not consistent. We should have played with more order on the court. Keep it simple, keep working. I don't think we have any other option."

Players

DEDOVIC, NIHAD
FC Bayern Munich
I think we can be happy. For 40 minutes we played a good game on both sides of the court. Defensively we were almost perfect, I think. We had some difficulties in the first half, but the second was pretty good. A win is important against a good team like Milan and it is a home win which is double-important for us. We have good guys, good characters, without selfishness. That is important. Other things are easier when you have guys like that. Like we showed in the first two German League games and tonight in the first EuroLeague game, we play like a team."
LUCIC, VLADIMIR
FC Bayern Munich
"It is the start of the EuroLeague, we want to make one step better than last year. We knew this is a good chance [for us] with all the problems that Milan had today with two really important players not playing. I think we did a good job moving the ball well offensively. We missed some shots, but defensively it was pretty solid, so I think we deserved this win. Next week we have CSKA, one of the best teams in the EuroLeague. It is always tough to play on their court. We have nothing to lose in this kind of game, only huge motivation to try to play against one of the best teams in the EuroLeague."
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