FC Bayern Munich's basketball team crushed Alba Berlin 95-61 on the second matchday of the Basketball-Bundesliga. The emphatic home win in a sold-out BMW Park in front of 6600 fans served as revenge for last season's final series defeat.
Head coach Anton Gavel praised his team's serious approach. "We took it very seriously and played our way into a lead," Gavel said. "I didn't always like the body language, we left some easy shots. But we have to work on that."
Clear Dominance From the Start
Bayern controlled the game from the opening tip. They led 22:12 after ten minutes and were up 40:24 at halftime. Their defence held Alba to just 32 percent shooting from the field and two free-throw attempts in the first half. After the break, Bayern extended the advantage, leading by as many as 39 points at 83:44 with five minutes remaining.
The statistics showed the dominance. Bayern grabbed 54 rebounds to Alba's 28. The visitors shot just 9 of 37 from three-point range and committed 15 turnovers. For Bayern, Kamar Baldwin and Oscar da Silva scored 14 points each. Austin Wiley recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Injury Mars Victory
The only downside was a bloody nose suffered by German national team player Johannes Thiemann following an elbow from Nevio Bennefeld. He received treatment and was substituted. Alba was also missing key injured players like Norris Agbakako.
The win follows a 108:72 season-opening victory over Bamberg and a narrow EuroCup win against Hapoel Tel Aviv. Things are also going well for the club's football department, as shown by recent results. Following the 7-0 win over Union Berlin and a 2-1 victory in Elversberg, the focus turns to the next Bundesliga fixture away to FC Augsburg on October 10.
The Bayern basketball team continues its season on Tuesday with a Euroleague game against Fenerbahce Istanbul. Their next BBL fixture is on October 4 against EWE Baskets Oldenburg.
The original report is at Sportschau
