Telekom Baskets Bonn Baskets lose against Bayern Munich

BONN · The Telekom Baskets failed to qualify for the top four in the basketball Bundesliga on Sunday, losing in Berlin to Bayern Munich 72:87 (16:26, 26:17, 14:27, 16:17).

Started strongly, eased off strongly, came back strongly: this is how one could describe the first half performance of the Baskets in front of 6031 spectators at the Audi Dome. In an extremely interesting 20 minutes between the first three-pointer from Ryan Thompson to make it 3:3 and the American’s layup at the half time siren to make it 42:43 at the break, both teams pulled out all the stops to make their mark on the game.

Thompson made the starting points, then Ojars Silins made it 6:3. Further points from Thompson and Julian Gamble kept the team in the lead at 10:9. But then the Baskets suffered from a very aggressive Munich defence, which put a lot of pressure on Josh Mayo in particular. They were ten points behind at the end of the first quarter with defence needing improvement in trainer Predrag Krunic’s Bonn team. “We didn’t defend our basket well,” said sport manager Michael Wichterich at the break.

After the Baskets were trailing by 20:33, they fought their way back into the game with much more aggression in defence, breaking the rhythm of trainer Aleksander Djordevic’s team. Mayo won the ball and scored a three pointer to make it 27:34 signalling the start of the best phase of play for Bonn.

But unlike in the first leg of the Bundesliga, which they lost in the Telekom Dome 83:95, on this afternoon the Bavarians could not be beaten. They laid the foundation for entry into the top four with an outstanding third quarter.

“We knew we could expect a difficult game here today. We fought well, especially in the first half. We were in the game for a long time, but to win here, you have to defend even better and score,” said Baskets coach Krunic.

For Bryce Taylor, the defeat in the Bundesliga in Bonn was a big incentive to win the game. “We didn’t want that to happen again. But the Baskets never gave up and demanded a great deal from us,” admitted the former Bonn wing player.

(Original text: Gerhard Mertens. Translated by Kate Carey.)

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