FC Bayern Munich suffered another defeat on matchday 3 of the EuroLeague. The German champions lost 78:86 at Partizan Belgrade, where national player Isaac Bonga plays.
It was a game of ups and downs. Partizan led by 22 points at times in the first half and was still 19 points ahead after the third quarter, but Bayern sniffed at a comeback in crunch time. In the end, there was none, a three-point play by Iffe Lundberg with around 90 seconds left was the game-winner.
Isaac Bonga (13, 3/4 three-pointers, 2 steals) had an outstanding game for Partizan, as did former Alba player Sterling Brown (22, 9/13 FG), who made all his first four shots from outside. Andi Obst (15, 6/8) was the top scorer for Bayern, with the German international only missing one shot in the fourth period. Carsen Edwards (13), Nick Weiler-Babb (10) and Devin Booker (11), who looked far from convincing in defense on a number of occasions, also scored in double figures.
Despite a 0:13 run, Bayern were still well served with a 15:24 deficit after ten minutes.
Sterling Brown catches fire against Bayern
But it wasn’t just the three-pointers. Partizan defended incredibly aggressively, Bayern hardly got into the zone and produced many easy turnovers. On top of that, former Albatros Brown was still on fire, allowing Partizan to build up a 22-point lead (45:23). However, Bayern recovered somewhat, forcing the Serbian team to call two time-outs, and a small run before half-time gave them a glimmer of hope (49:32).
And after the break, Munich also drained its threes, in particular Carsen Edwards. The big men of the Belgrade team, Brandon Davies and Tyrique Jones, ran into foul trouble, while Booker cut the deficit to single digits with a jump shot. Partizan then pulled itself together, however, with Frank Ntilikina, Bonga and Jones now the dominant players on court. Bayern’s run had come to nothing and the final period was underway with the score at 71:52.
The air was then let out of the game a little and Bayern got back into single digits through a three by Nick Weiler-Babb, but Gordon Herbert’s team did not get closer than six points. Bayern’s EuroLeague campaign continues on Thursday, when Munich hosts SAP Garden newcomer Paris, which beat Panathinaikos in parallel, in the SAP Garden.