FC Bayern Munich avoided a slip-up at home and remained close to the league leaders with a strong defensive effort and a 76-62 victory over LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Friday.
Bayern's defense leads win over ASVEL
Game Report
1 min read
FC Bayern Munich avoided a slip-up at home and remained close to the league leaders with a strong defensive effort and a 76-62 victory over LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Friday. Jalen Reynolds led the way with 17 points and 11 rebounds as Bayern won its second straight game to improve to 9-4 and 5-2 at home in the Audi Dome. Nihad Dedovic and Leon Radosevic both pitched in 11 points for Bayern, which was playing without leading scorer Vladimir Lucic. ASVEL suffered its third consecutive defeat – all of them on the road – in falling to 3-9 and 1-6 away from home. Allerik Freeman was ASVEL's leading scorer with 12 and Guershon Yabusele picked up 10 points.
Regular Season
Round 13 of 34
Group Regular Season
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JaJuan Johnson opened the scoring with a jumper and Dedovic followed with 2 three-pointers as the hosts went up 8-0 in less than 2 minutes, forcing an ASVEL timeout. Yabusele's free throws got the guests on the board and Charles Kahudi hit a triple. Paul Zipser countered with a three-pointer and reverse layup as the Bayern advantage grew to 17-8. Freeman knocked down a three-pointer for ASVEL but Zan Sisko was on target from long range and Bayern was up 24-15 after 10 minutes. Johnson had the first 5 points of the second quarter in extending the Bayern gap to 29-15. The hosts never allowed ASVEL to find a rhythm though the French side got the deficit to 31-21. ASVEL was held scoreless then for more than 3 minutes as Radosevic scored twice and Dedovic hit from deep again as Bayern cruised into the break leading 42-25.
After ASVEL made just 2-of-10 three-pointers in the first half, Antoine Diot and Yabusele hit triples early in the third quarter to trim the margin to 44-31. Bayern did not let up with Wade Baldwin draining a triple and Reynolds scoring twice for a 56-37 lead. ASVEL then kept Bayern scoreless for 4 minutes and scored 7 straight points to edge within 56-44. The hosts responded with the final 4 points of the quarter to remain in charge, 60-44, after 30 minutes. Kahudi hit a triple early in the final frame as ASVEL tried to get cut into the margin. Bayern did not allow much defensively and DJ Seeley's three-point play made it 67-49 with 7 minutes left. ASVEL's leading scorer Norris Cole finally scored his first points on a three-pointer on the next possession. And while Bayern's offense stalled, its defense limited ASVEL to just one basket over the next 6 minutes to secure the win.
Game Leaders
Bayern stops Cole
Norris Cole came into the game as ASVEL's leading scorer at 12.0 points to go with 4.3 assists. But the veteran missed his first seven shots to finish with 5 points and 2 assists.
Bayern shuts down ASVEL's marksmen
Bayern knew it had to hold down the ASVEL sharpshooters as the French side was second-best in the EuroLeague in three-point shooting percentage at 39.4%. Andrea Trinchieri's men gave up just 8-of-23 triples, or 34.8%, to ASVEL, and 2 of those makes came in the final 32 seconds.
Telling numbers
Bayern held ASVEL to just 45.5% on two-pointers and turned 16 turnovers into 20 points, compared to 9 points off 11 turnovers for ASVEL. Bayern also led in fastbreak points 12-0.