FC Bayern Munich KO’s rival ALBA to storm into quarterfinals

FC Bayern Munich set up a quarterfinals date with Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul after beating German rival ALBA Berlin 84-75 on Tuesday. The second leg of their Eurocup Eighthfinals series was a winner-takes-all affair after the two teams tied Game 1 in the German capital. ALBA led early, but Dusko Savanovic led a 7-0 and an 8-0 run in the second quarter to set up a 44-34 halftime lead. Bayern held the lead throughout the second half, though ALBA refused to go away. The difference was 3 with three and a half minutes to go, but a 7-0 push restored a double-digit Bayern cushion, which sealed the outcome. Savanovic finished with 17 points as did Alex Renfroe to lead Bayern, while Anton Gavel added 15 points and Paul Zipser 10 for the winners. Jordan Taylor starred for ALBA with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, while Will Cherry led all scorers with 18 points, Elmedin Kikanovic added 12 points and Dragan Milosavljevic 11.

ALBA jumped ahead with the game’s first 7 points, which came from a pair of Jordan Taylor assists and a Taylor layup. Gavel got the hosts on the board with a triple, but Mitchell Watt and Kresimir Loncar each scored on the offensive glass to boost the difference to 5-13. Renfroe stepped up with 5 points in a 7-0 run to bring Bayern within 1. Then a three-point play from Daniel Mayr gave Bayern its first lead, 17-15. Cherry countered with a three-point play, but Mayr got back to the line to put Bayern ahead again and Justin Cobbs’s free throws made it 23-20 after 10 minutes. Foul shots by Milosavljevic and Jordan Taylor tied the game early in the second quarter only for the home team to reel off the next 7 points – 5 of which Savanovic scored - for a 30-23 advantage. After a Loncar three, Bayern scored the next 8 points – half of them through Savanovic – to take a 12-point advantage. The lead reached 15 on a Gavel layup with a minute left in the half, but Cherry and Jordan Taylor drew ALBA within 44-34 at halftime.

Kikanovic scored 4 points during a 0-8 run that carried ALBA back into the game at 48-44. The visitors further narrowed the gap to 52-51 on Jordan Taylor’s put-back-plus-foul. Baskets by Renfroe and Deon Thompson kept Bayern on top. Bryce Taylor sank 4 free throws around a triple by Watt to end the third quarter at 60-54. Renfroe extended the lead to 8, but Cherry’s three-point play and a Milosavljevic triple had ALBA at 62-60. Gavel drilled a three to keep Bayern in front, but ALBA would not go away. Watt’s basket made it 68-65 with less than four minutes to play. However ALBA was held scoreless for the next two-plus minutes, while baskets by Zipser, Gavel and ultimately a Renfroe triple wrapped up the Bayern victory and ticket to the quarterfinals.