The Bavarians won game one of the semi-final series of the BBL play-offs at the Telekom Baskets Bonn clearly with 80:68 in the end and thus stole the home advantage from the Rhinelanders.
FC Bayern München won the first play-off semi-final at Telekom Baskets Bonn. The title contender won 80-68 (33-35) at the main round runners-up on Saturday night after a strong second half and takes the lead in the best-of-five series. The second of five possible games will take place on Monday (20:30/Sport1 and MagentaSport) again in Bonn.
“You have to find your way into the series, we only did that in the second half today,” visitors coach Andrea Trinchieri told MagentaSport. “It’s 1-0 now, no more, no less. Bonn will come back strongly, so we have to raise our level game by game.” Bonn coach Tuomas Iisalo saw “not the best game” of his team, “against one of the top teams in Europe you have to deliver more. We have 48 hours to find solutions.”
Both teams had surprisingly big difficulties to score at all in the early stages. Bonn only scored its first point after four minutes on a free throw, while Bayern managed six points. By the end of the first quarter, the teams had become more accurate. The guests won the first period with 19:18.
Jackson-Cartwright makes “only” 14 points
Bonn turned around what had been a close game for a long time (35:33) by the break, although Peter Jackson-Cartwright, who had excelled in the quarter-final against Hamburg, was not yet in top form. The US-American, who was voted best Bundesliga player, scored 14 points.
In the second half, Bayern then showed their strength. Led by Ognjen Jaramaz and Vladimir Lucic, coach Andrea Trinchieri’s team took a 59-51 lead after 30 minutes. The Euroleague quarter-finalists did not let this lead slip away and secured their first win. The best scorer was Bavaria’s Lucic with 19 points.
Game statistics
Telekom Baskets Bonn vs. FC Bayern Munich 68:80 (35:33)
Semi-final, 1st matchday
Arena: Telekom Dome (6,000 seats) Bonn