FC Bayern Basketball has been knocked out of the cup in the first semi-final of the BBL Top Four. The defending champions surprisingly lost 93:95 to the hosts Syntainics MBC in Weißenfels. Martin Breunig scored the decisive points in the final second.
Weißenfels had already beaten Munich in the league and this time it was another close game in the “Wolfsbau”. The underdog was ahead for large parts of the game and even after an explosion from Carsen Edwards (15 out of a total of 21 points) in the third quarter, Bayern was unable to pull ahead. The MBC’s two most industrious scorers were guards Spencer Reaves (top scorer with 23 points, 8/13 FGM) and Michael Devoe (22, 5 rebounds, 8 assists). However, the man of the match was Martin Breunig (13), who snapped up numerous offensive rebounds (9 rebounds in total) in the fourth period and also scored the winning bucket with one second left on the clock.
It was a wild start in which Bayern initially had a slight advantage. The three-pointers dropped, the MBC countered with a lot of pace and also scored well from the field. Bayern took its starters off earlier, and Weißenfels took advantage of that. Reaves had already scored seven points and the home side led by 22:20 at the end of the first period.
The MBC also found offense through Michael Devoe, while Head Coach Gordon Herbert quickly brought on Voigtmann again for Bayern, who was its top scorer (10 points) midway through the second period. Bayern took the lead again (32:26), but also made a number of easy mistakes and invited the MBC back in. The underdog annoyed Bayern with a lot of movement, cuts and thus easy points. Bayern’s offense also had a much harder time, with the MBC leading 48:43 at half-time.
Edwards’ three-point show not enough – MBC celebrates thriller finish
Edwards had not been involved in the game at all up to that point, but drained a three immediately after the break. Munich was now much more focused in general and Herbert’s team quickly regained control with a 13:3 run. Reaves scored on the other side of the court, but Edwards drained a total of four buckets in a row from downtown and notched up 15 points. Yet the MBC stayed in the game and the encounter went into the final period with the scores tied at 73:73.
And it remained tight there too. Nick Weiler-Babb (9, 11 assists) quickly conceded his fourth foul, but remained on court. Bayern defended with a little more focus, but conceded a number of points after offensive rebounds. And that was no exception: Martin Breunig did Bayern a favor several times, allowing Edwards to equalize again with three minutes remaining (88:88). Obst’s third bucket from outside put Bayern back in front, but Weiler-Babb was unable to add from close to the hoop.
So it was the MBC again, with Devoe making the crowd go wild with a downtown shot (93:91). Edwards made it all square from the line, but a putback by Breunig put the MBC on the road to victory with 0.9 seconds left on the clock. The visitors forced Munich to take a shot from the center line through Voigtmann, who missed his target, on the final play.
